FOX Slates Live Religious Musical Event Featuring Tyler Perry

LOS ANGELES: FOX is set to air the two-hour musical event The Passion, hosted and narrated by Tyler Perry, live from New Orleans on Palm Sunday, March 20.

The special will feature a lineup of stars (the roster has yet to be announced) who will perform a variety of popular music, arranged by Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages). Perry (The Haves and The Have Nots, Gone Girl) will serve as host and narrator for the event, which tells the 2,000-year-old story of the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life on Earth. The Passion will be set in modern day and will unfold live at some of New Orleans’s most iconic locations, while featuring a procession of hundreds of people carrying a 20-foot illuminated cross.

FOX has partnered with dick clark productions, Eye2Eye Media and Anders Media to produce the event.

“The Passion is both wonderfully entertaining and genuinely inspirational,” said David Madden, the president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company. “We are so thrilled to have the multi-talented Tyler Perry join us for this epic music production. He is the perfect host to lead the cast—and viewers—through the streets of New Orleans in this contemporary re-telling of a timeless story.”

“This Palm Sunday television event is a modern-day production of the most famous story of all time, full of universal themes, which we hope provides a unifying experience, bringing the sacred and secular together,” added Mark Bracco, the executive VP of programming and development for dick clark productions.

“The Passion is one of the most exciting and compelling projects that I have ever been involved with,” said Anders. “I cannot wait to bring the greatest-story-ever-told to life through music, in a way that has never been heard before. To be able to create new arrangements of some of the biggest songs of all time to create a live ‘film score’ is a creative dream for me.”

“We are excited that New Orleans has been chosen as the location for The Passion,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “Year after year, our city continues to prove to be one of the best places for major motion pictures and world-class productions. One of the reasons our economy continues to grow is due to our continued focus on creating opportunities for our cultural economy to thrive and this production announcement is another example of our success.”