New Heated Rivalry Adaptation Officially Premiering This Spring

The first season of Heated Rivalry ended only three months ago, but there’s already a new adaptation in the works that’s set to premiere in May.

The sports romance drama became a pop culture phenomenon when it streamed on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the U.S. in late 2025. When something becomes this popular, it’s not uncommon for parodies to start popping up, and that is about to happen with Heated Rivalry.

Deadline reports that an unauthorized musical parody of Heated Rivalry is debuting at the 6th Floor Theater in New York. Previews begin on Tuesday, May 12, with opening night set for May 26. The Off-Broadway musical will run for eight weeks.

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody already staged eight sold-out concert performances in early March.

Instead of Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams in the starring roles, Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander will be played in the parody by Jay Armstrong Johnson and Jimin Moon.

The former is best known for starring in Parade on Broadway; he was also part of the North American tour of Moulin Rouge. Moon, meanwhile, has starred in Sunset Boulevard and Aladdin on Broadway.

Other cast members include Ryann Redmond, Cherry Torres and Ryan Duncan.

Centering on a group of Broadway actors who believe they’re auditioning for Heated Rivalry season 2, the musical parody will include a “bop-infused score, scene-stealing cameos by characters like Rose Landry and Ilya’s a**, and time jumps absolutely no one can keep track of,” according to the official synopsis.

“Relive all of the moments from the show that made you wet (with tears) up close on the small-stage by an incredible cast of Broadway actors who thought they were auditioning to be in season 2. Sporting a bop-infused score, scene-stealing cameos by characters like Rose Landry and Ilya’s A**, and time jumps absolutely no one can keep track of, audiences will find themselves hot, bothered, and probably saying, ‘….Girl!’”

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is directed and produced by Alan Kliffer. Dylan MarcAurele wrote the book and lyrics, with Brooke and Tiffany Engen on board as choreographers, Sully Rossen in charge of scenic design, Brendan McCann leading the costume design, Devin Cameron as lighting designer, and Germán Martinez working on sound design.

Friends, Scream, Carrie, The Exorcist, The Real Housewives and Harry Potter are some of the many popular shows, movies and books that have received the musical parody treatment over the years.

Jacob Tierney adapted Heated Rivalry from the bestselling Game Changers books by Rachel Reid, who has written six novels in the series so far, with a seventh (Unrivaled) set to be released in June 2027. On the TV show, Ilya and Shane begin a secret relationship with each other, despite being rival hockey players in public.

After debuting in late 2025, Heated Rivalry became Crave’s highest-rated original show and is one of HBO Max’s most successful acquired series. Critics have also lavished praise on the series, which earned a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and won Outstanding New TV Series at the GLAAD Media Awards.

Storrie and Williams’ co-stars on the show include François Arnaud, Christina Chang, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Callan Potter, Franco Lo Presti, Kamilla Kowal, Yaroslav Poverlo, Slavic Rogozine, Dylan Walsh, Benjamin Roy, Kolton Stewart and Sophie Nélisse.

Heated Rivalry season 2 is already in the works, with Tierney returning as showrunner, writer, director and executive producer. While a premiere date hasn’t been revealed yet, fans should expect the LGBTQ+ hockey romance series to return in spring 2027 after filming gets underway this summer.