In The Boys season four, viewers are unexpectedly treated to a musical scene on ice, with skaters from Vought on Ice singing in chorus the musical number “Let’s Put the Christ Back in Christmas.” Showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural, Gen V) and the composer of the song, Christopher Lennertz (Lost In Space, Pitch Perfect 3), recently sat down with TVLine to discuss the series.
Kripke told TVLine that he was immediately on board when Lennertz brought the production to him. “He came to me when he was writing it, and he’s like, ‘I want to blow the doors off this one, and I want to get these Tony-winning Broadway superstars to record it.’ I was just like, ‘Hey, baby, go do your thing. If you can get them, I’ll find a way to pay for them,’” Kripke said. “He came back to me, and he said, ‘They’re all in,’ and, obviously, I was thrilled. It was just so fun to see just the size of that song and what it evolved into.”
Joining the series to star in Vought on Ice are Tony nominees James Monroe Iglehart (Death Force, Kiff) as Jesus, Shoshana Bean (Bloodline, Bill & Ted Face The Music) as Queen Maeve and Andrew Rannells (Book Of Mormon, Hamilton) as Homelander. TVLine reports that Lennertz used his connections to bring them into the fold. “I had a previous relationship with James because I’ve co-written a lot of stuff with Alan Menken [for ABC’s Galavant and the movie Sausage Party], and I had met James through that,” he said. “And then I tried a bunch of ways to get to Andrew, including trying to get through Josh Gad, who I’ve done a couple of movies with and a charity thing. I found some back channels, finally got to Andrew that way. And then Shoshana was a recommendation. I’ve worked with a friend of hers out in LA who’s a producer, and I was like, “You gotta introduce me to Shoshana!” and so I managed to finally get to them. We were a little nervous, like, “Are you guys all going to be OK with being sort of offensive in a loving way, but pushing the boundaries of taste a little bit?” and all three of them were literally like, “Yes, let’s do it.” I kind of knew Andrew was great after Book of Mormon. But the other thing was [with] James, I’m like, “OK, so here’s the thing, you’re gonna play Jesus,” which is, obviously, a pretty big order already, and I need that big, booming voice. But then when he found out it was for The Boys, he’s a huge Boys fan, and he’s a huge comic book fan. So this was like a dream for him, which was amazing.”
The Vought on Ice performance is below, and the full interview can be read here.