Since it’s the altar on which A&E recently sacrificed Longmire, I don’t have warm feelings about Duck Dynasty, although the network itself goes one better, depicting Phil Robertson and his clan as bizarre backwoods cretins. With a pedigree like that, it was inevitable that show biz would come calling, although not in the form of a TV sitcom — which Duck Dynasty arguably already is — but as a Las Vegas musical, a strange marriage of form and content. For one thing, what are the Robertsons’ religiously conservative fans going to make of the family breaking bread with Sin City?
“The Robertsons are so unusual, their story so juicy, and theater shouldn’t be limited to telling stories about people you resemble or revere,” said producer Michael David, taking the high road with regard to certain Duck Dynasty controversies. That being said, with a scheduled February opening at The Rio, the creators have left themselves little time to wrest a book, musical and lyrics from The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Built a Dynasty. Also, the budget is pegged in the low seven figures, which — recent LVA research found — may be unrealistically cheap. A “low budget” show in this town starts around a half-million and the costs quickly escalate from there, particularly in a union house.
Will audiences be expecting a stage version of the TV show, as was the case with Pawn Shop (a notorious flop)? And, with the iron-fisted Robertsons exerting creative control, will the musical’s creators have the flexibility they need to produce a successful show?
“The show will end up challenging the views and assumptions of people across the political spectrum, more than most theater does,” said David, making it sound as though he were producing a profound social statement, not a tuner spun from a tacky “reality” show. Las Vegas is a difficult market in which to succeed and David seems to be taking the challenge lightly.
