Photos: Mary McCartney, PR / Paramount

Musical legend Paul McCartney (of The Beatles) is currently working on a musical stage adaptation of one of the most iconic holiday films of all time, Frank Capra’s 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life”, based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s “The Greatest Gift”.

The musical is the brainchild of McCartney and West End theatre and film producer Ben Kenwright, and has been in development for three years, since acquiring the rights, and is slated to open in late 2020. McCartney will write the music and lyrics alongside Tony Award winning playwright Lee Hall, while Kenwright is set to produce.

“Like many of these things this all started with an email. Bill had asked if it was something I might be up for. Writing a musical is not something that had ever really appealed to me but Bill and I met up with Lee Hall and had a chat and I found myself thinking this could be interesting and fun. “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a universal story we can all relate to,” McCartney said.

Read more about the upcoming project at BroadwayWorld.com!

Stay merry!

Photos and screengrabs: Crown Media

During Hallmark Channel’s annual “Christmas: A First Look” preview special, which aired over the weekend, we got a sneak peek at Lacey Chabert‘s upcoming holiday movie, “Christmas in Rome”.

The sweet romantic film follows Angela (Chabert), an independent-minded American tour guide who is fired from her job in Rome just before Christmas and ends up crossing paths with Oliver (Sam Page), an American executive, who wants to buy a high-end Italian ceramics company. Oliver hires Angela to be his guide around the city because the owner of the company won’t sell to him until he learns ‘the heart and soul of Rome’. But, Oliver might just win the heart of more than just Rome.

In the clip that aired during the special, we saw Chabert’s character wearing a beautiful dark green coat that is perfect for the season…. and I just had to share the details on it!

Angela wears the Ted Baker London “Sandra” Midi Wool Wrap Coat in Dark Green.

This style was popular last year in Hallmark’s slate of festive movies; it was seen in “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas” and “Mingle All the Way”, but I can’t deny that this traditional shade is my favorite look yet! You can find this exact coat, as well as other colors, on sale for $344 at TedBaker.com!

(Update 10/11/19) I’ve added two more coats from the movie!

Screengrabs: Crown Media

We got a first look at several upcoming Christmas movies that will premiere as part of the 10th Anniversary of Hallmark’s beloved Countdown to Christmas programming later this year, one of which was “Christmas Scavenger Hunt” starring Kim Shaw and Kevin McGarry. In this holiday adventure we find Belinda (Shaw) heading back to her hometown where things get complicated as she teams up with her ex-boyfriend, Dustin (McGarry), for the annual town Christmas scavenger hunt.

In sneak peek clip, we see Belinda dressed super cozy for the scavenger hunt in a festive red winter coat and a white knitted cap adorned with a sweet bow. I was super happy to recognize the designer’s of both items fairly easily, and now I have a breakdown of how you can purchase both!

Photos: ABC

This holiday season is shaping up to be quite the busy one for Lea Michele as she’ll already be spreading joy with an upcoming Christmas album, but today it was announced that Michele is set to star in the upcoming Freeform Studios film, “Same Time, Next Christmas”, which will premiere on the ABC Network later this year.

Michele has starred on Broadway, had a breakout role on FOX’s “Glee”, co-lead the short-lived comedy “The Mayor” for ABC and had a part in the 2011 festive film “New Year’s Eve”, but this will be her first Christmas-centered movie.

She will play the lead role of Olivia Henderson, a young woman who met her childhood sweetheart during her family’s annual Christmas visit to Hawaii. After being separated by distance and years, the two reunite at the same Hawaii resort years later and the old chemistry between them flares up anew – but circumstances conspire to keep them apart.

“This holiday season holds special importance to me as I get to celebrate both my role in this film and my first-ever holiday album,” said Lea Michele. “I’m honored to return to ABC with this movie event, and I am excited to share the holidays with everyone.”

Here’s hoping some of that music will serve as a merry backdrop to a few scenes!

“Same Time, Next Christmas” is executive produced by EveryWhere Studios’ Tom Mazza and David Calvert Jones, while Stephen Herek (“Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) is set to direct. There’s no current air date set yet, but keep in mind that ABC programming can also be viewed on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu.

Stay merry!

Photo/Screencaps: Crown Media

Lacey Chabert brought the spirit of Christmas into the summer season by celebrating Christmas in July and hosting Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas: A First Look” Preview Special. The annual sneak peek show gave us a look at some of the original movies coming to the network during the 10th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas, which officially kicks off on Friday, October 25th!

During the special, Chabert was joined by network pet ambassador, Happy the Dog, and “Home & Family” pet rescue expert Larissa Wohl — who brought along some kittens and puppies as she explained Hallmark Channel’s pet rescue initiative, “Adoption Ever After”. Learn more here!

Read on to check out the movies that were spotlighted during the special!

McKellar (left) and Parton (right) | Photos: Crown Media/Courtesy

First the Hallmark took you to Graceland for the holidays, and now they’re heading to Dollywood!

That’s right, Dolly Parton is bringing her iconic Tennessee theme park to the Hallmark Channel for an all-new original holiday movie starring Danica McKellar.

McKellar will star as Rachel Lewis, a single mom and award-winning Broadway producer who learns investors have mismanaged her theatrical holiday extravaganza into bankruptcy, which forces the show to close before opening night. When a friend from Tennessee tells Rachel about an opportunity to produce a show for the 20th anniversary of the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival at Dollywood, she simply can’t pass it up! However, there’s always a catch, isn’t there? In this case, Rachel will have to work alongside Luke Haman, Dollywood’s entertainment director who plans to use the show as stepping stone to advance his own career.

Durance (left), Darnell-Martin (center) and Dunne (right). | Photos: Crown Media/IMDb

It will be another few months before UPtv rolls out the movie lineup for their annual Uplifting Christmas Movies programming event, but I’ve already stumbled upon several movies in production for the network that I wanted to share with you.

ROCK AND ROLL CHRISTMAS
According to IBTimes and Beverley Mitchell‘s recent Facebook Live chat, the former “7th Heaven” star, who lead the holiday film “Hometown Christmas” last year for Lifetime, will be returning to her musical roots in “Rock and Roll Christmas”. If you watched Mitchell on “7th Heaven” as it aired like I did, you won’t be surprised to know the actress is also a singer and released a country album back in 2007; she event featured her single “Angel” in the series finale of the show.

Well, after a long hiatus, in “Rock and Roll Christmas”, Mitchell will play one half of an estranged mother/daughter country music duo who reunite after a decade to release a Christmas single once a video of them goes viral. Now, they’re in need of forgiveness and a little holiday magic to write a song that captures the spirit of the season and brings their family closer.

Mitchell teased on her Facebook Live chat, “I’m gonna be back in the recording studio to record some original music for this film.” How exciting is that?!

Pictured: Krakow (left) and Macfarlane (right). / Credit: Crown Media

I love kicking my day off with news of an upcoming Christmas movie, but let’s triple that joy because I have info on THREE new movies! Crown Media announced the Hallmark Channel holiday features through ET today, which I will break down for you below!

“When Calls the Heart” star Erin Krakow and Luke Macfarlane (“A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”) will lead “Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen”, based on the novel by author Melissa de la Cruz. Krakow will play Ella, a Christmas enthusiast party planner alongside her sister, Marianne, who clash with their client, Edward (MacFarlane), a not-so-jolly toy company CEO.

Pictured: Grenier (left) and Doubleday (right). / Credit: Crown Media, FOX

It looks like production is underway for the third installment of Hallmark’s Graceland film series! Last year, Kellie Pickler and Wes Brown starred in “Christmas at Graceland” as exes who reunite during the holiday season at Elvis Presley’s former home, Graceland. The success of the film paved the way for a sequel, “Wedding at Graceland”, which Pickler and Brown returned for; it premiere last month during Hallmark Channel’s June Weddings programming.

While it was previously speculated that the third film would reunite Pickler and Brown once again, it appears that Adrian Grenier (HBO’s “Entourage”) and Kaitlin Doubleday (FOX’s “Empire”) will lead “Christmas at Graceland 2”, which will have an original story and not be a continuance of the previous installments.

Commercial Appeal has announced that filming will begin on July 18 and wrap in August, according to Ryan Westheimer, the film’s co-producer who served in the same role for the previous films.

The plot of this new movie will find Doubleday’s character as a Graceland tour guide who meets Griener’s character, who asks her to nanny his three children. She accepts and stays at his guesthouse and, as you can imagine, the pair develop romantic feelings for one another.

It is Hallmark, after all.

“Christmas at Graceland 2” will premiere on Hallmark Channel during the annual Countdown to Christmas, which is set to kick off the last week of October.

Stay merry!

With the various networks celebrating the most wonderful time of the summer season this month by airing Christmas movies, you can count on QVC to help you get a head-start on your holiday shopping all month long with the 32nd annual QVC Christmas in July offerings, kicking off July 1st!

The shopping network will have several Christmas in July programs throughout the month dedicated to helping you make your holiday season extra special this year – with less stress. You’ll get amazing deals on upcoming merchandise, including decorations, lights, clothing, jewelry, festive food for entertaining, and gifts. Some may think getting a jump on the winter holidays in the summer is way too early, but you’ll be glad you did when the days get shorter and your ‘To-Do List’ gets longer!

– Check out a sneak peek of the sale here! –

I, unfortunately, didn’t get an advanced full programming list this year, but you can view QVC’s schedule on their website here: QVC TV Program Guide – Click Here.

Don’t forget to enter their Christmas in July Sweepstakes (from 7/1–7/31/19) for a chance to win $25,000 and exciting prizes from some of QVC’s most popular brands!

Stay merry!