Jennifer Lopez is set to star in new musical "Bye Bye Birdie Live"

The 47-year-old singer will play the role of Rose ‘Rosie’ Alvarez in the live production next year and assist as executive producer on the forthcoming NBC remake of scriptwriter Michael Stewart’s play and the 1960 Tony award winning Broadway show, and the musician has revealed she is “proud” to be cast in the production.

Speaking about the forthcoming project, the brunette beauty said in a statement: “Broadway musicals and films fueled my childhood and ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ was one of my favourites. I’m proud to be a part of the NBC family with ‘Shades of Blue’ and I thought it would be a blast to take on one of their big live musicals.”

And the entertainment team behind the production are grateful to have the ‘Jenny From the Block’ hitmaker star in the show, and have revealed the musician willingly put herself forward for the role.

NBC Entertainment chairman, Bob Greenblatt, said: “To have a superstar like Jennifer Lopez starring in this classic show, which every high school in America has done, will ensure that our holiday musicals continue to be must-see events for the whole family. “It was her idea to take on this classic singing and dancing role made famous by the legendary Chita Rivera, and we are so happy to oblige! This show has delighted audiences for generations with classic songs that include ‘Put on a Happy Face’ and ‘A Lot of Livin’ to Do,’ and this will be an extravagant production built around this big star.”

The news of Jennifer’s upcoming acting role, which is the first casting to be unveiled, was confirmed on Thursday (27.10.16) during a Paley Media Council conversation, and Bob revealed Jennifer is currently singing tracks from ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ during her 40 performances a year at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. He explained: “She came to us and said ‘I love this show, I discovered the music.’ She has a big show in Vegas where she does ‘Lot of Livin’,’ which is a song from ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’”