NBC Entertainment president Robert Greenblatt has been given oversight of NBCUniversal’s stage division, Universal Stage Productions, the company announced Tuesday. Universal Pictures president Jimmy Horowitz will continue to lead the unit as its focus expands to adapt properties from throughout the company’s different divisions, not just its film library, to the stage.
Greenblatt took home a Tony Award in June as a producer for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, which won for best musical. He also served as a producer on the short-lived Broadway adaptation 9 to 5: The Musical.
Since taking over as NBC chief in 2011, Greenblatt has greenlit several Broadway-related projects, including the drama series Smash, the live-action broadcast of The Sound of Music and the upcoming live-action Peter Pan.
Universal Stage Productions was launched in 2003 and has produced 10 Broadway shows — most notably Tony winners Wicked and Billy Elliot.
“Starting with the enormous success of Wicked, Jimmy has built a thriving live stage business and I’m looking forward to working together to grow the business,” Greenblatt said. “Broadway and the touring business are very robust right now, and while a blockbuster like Wicked doesn't come along every day, I'm eager to extend more of our filmed entertainment to the stage as well as branch out into original ideas."
