Cheyenne Jackson, star of Broadway’s surprise hit musical Xanadu, will be starring in the new film “Shifting the Canvas,” directed by Chuck Griffith. Don’t worry, Xanadu fans — the filming will not interfere with his Xanadu performances.

Press notes describe the movie, saying it “tells the story about a group of artists living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who struggle to maintain a rather dysfunctional family of friends in a post-9/11 world challenged by gentrification, deception and sterilization.”

Cheyenne will play a “straight Ivy League type who works on Wall Street with Denton, a young gay character that recently relocated to New York from the South, who is trying to reconcile his newfound sexuality and relationship with everybody around him.”

Director Chuck Griffith had nothing but good things to say about Cheyenne: “Cheyenne is the caliber of actor that a director looks for in commanding a scene. I am both humbled and excited to work with this gifted actor of stage and screen.”

The film will also star a blast from the past — Gedde Watanabe (remember him from the Molly Ringwald film “Sixteen Candles”?) — as well as Scott Thompson, John Paul Pitoc, and Matthew Montgomery.

Cheyenne Jackson has also appeared in the movies “United 93″ (based on the story of one of the planes that was hijacked on September 11, 2001) and “Curiosity.” His Broadway credits include Xanadu, All Shook Up, Aida, and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as the premiere cast of the off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz. His regional credits include West Side Story, The Most Happy Fella, Children of Eden, Hair, Carousel, Damn Yankees, and Kismet.

Visit the official Shifting the Canvas movie site.

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