Ben Platt to Lead Ryan Murphy Series The Politician; Barbra Streisand & Gwyneth Paltrow Likely to Co-Star

Are you ready for this? Tony winner Ben Platt has signed on as star and co-producer of Netflix's new hourlong comedy The Politician, created by TV hitmaker Ryan Murphy, according to Deadline. If that isn't exciting enough, award-winning stage-and-screen legend Barbra Streisand and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow are in talks to co-star.

Platt earned a 2017 Tony Award for his turn in Dear Evan Hansen and a 2018 Grammy for his standout work on the musical's cast album. Streisand is a two-time Oscar winner whose credits include A Star Is Born and Funny Girl along with decades of bestselling albums. Paltrow, an Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love and an Emmy winner for Murphy's Glee, is slated to make her Broadway-producing debut this summer with the much-anticipated Go-Go's musical Head Over Heels. Murphy's TV projects include Feud, American Horror Story and the upcoming Pose. He is a lead producer on this spring's high-profile 50th-anniversary Broadway production of The Boys in the Band.

The Politician is described as a comedy blended with social commentary (and music, apparently, as Platt is expected to lend his heavenly singing voice to the project). Netflix has greenlit the show for a straight-to-series order of two seasons. Further word on plot and characters, along with full confirmation of involvement from Streisand and Paltrow, is to come.