Another warm NBC drama will be set in Western Pa.

PASADENA, Calif. — When NBC’s partially Pittsburgh-set “This Is Us” ends its second season in March — the show already has been renewed for a third season — the network will replace it with another uplifting Western Pennsylvania-set drama.

“Rise,” created by “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood” showrunner Jason Katims, plays like a grittier, more grounded “Glee” — no one breaks into song out of the blue, but the show does feature music as students put on a production of “Spring Awakening.”

“Rise” is seen through the eyes of teacher and family man Lou Mazzuchelli (Josh Radnor, “How I Met Your Mother”), who takes over the lackluster theater program at a high school in a workingclass Western Pennsylvania town (with shuttered steel mills). “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller serves as an executive producer on “Rise,” and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the rap performed by a character in the “Rise” pilot.

Filmed on stages in Brooklyn with exteriors shot in White Plains and Haverstraw, N.Y., Mr. Katims said “Rise” is set outside Pittsburgh in the fictional town of Stanton, Pa. The series was inspired by the book “Drama High” about a real-life theater program.

“Levittown, Pa., is where the actual story was, and I liked the idea of setting it in Pennsylvania, so we created the fictional town of Stanton, which allows us to give it its own kind of history,” Mr. Katims said. “I liked that it was somewhat close to a major city but not too close. It felt like it stood on its own as a small town.”

Mr. Katims acknowledged the success of “This Is Us” paved the way for “Rise”: “Shows that are very character-driven and have a deep emotional core to them and are ultimately shows about people, these are definitely the shows that not only appeal to me as a viewer, but they’re the kind of stories I like to tell.”

“Rise” debuts at 10 p.m. March 13 on WPXI following the “This Is Us” season finale. The next week “Rise” moves into the 9 p.m. Tuesday time slot.

NBC’s promotional efforts for “Rise” include committing to give $10,000 grants to 50 American high schools as part of a R.I.S.E. America initiative (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression). To qualify, high schools must have an existing theater program or a champion of theater arts on their teaching staff in cases where a school’s theater program was cut due to budget constraints.

NBC partnered with the Educational Theatre Foundation to administer the program with applications accepted at NBC.com/RISE through Feb. 6.

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