They're not exactly the Von Trapps trilling about edelweiss, but the Robertson family of the reality series "Duck Dynasty" wants to sing to you about faith and food, duck calls and swamp moss. And they have convinced a team from Broadway to bring their story to the stage, in Las Vegas for starters.

Undertaking one of the more audacious theater projects in recent years, the Robertsons — known for their long beards, duck-hunting merchandise and occasional inflammatory remarks — are moving to expand their Louisiana-based multimedia franchise with "The Duck Commander Family Musical."

The 90-minute show, with actors playing the family members from A&E's "Duck Dynasty" as they celebrate their rags-to-riches saga, is aiming to open in February at the Rio hotel and casino, where the Chippendales show and Penn & Teller are now running.

Yet even before rehearsals begin, the musical is courting controversy. Several Broadway producers, many of whom are liberal, gay or both, are aghast that colleagues would work with a family whose patriarch, Phil Robertson, has compared homosexuality to bestiality. Meanwhile, evangelical Christians — many of whom admire the Robertsons — will have to grapple with going to a casino to see if the show has fairly rendered the family.

"The show will end up challenging the views and assumptions of people across the political spectrum, more than most theater does," said Michael David, the Broadway producer who is developing the show and has mounted such Broadway hits as "Jersey Boys" and such flops as "Good Vibrations."

"The Robertsons are so unusual, their story so juicy, and theater shouldn't be limited to telling stories about people you resemble or revere," added David, whose long gray beard could make him an honorary Robertson.

Willie Robertson, chief executive of the Duck Commander company, which had $40 million in revenue in 2012 (a fraction of the sales of "Duck Dynasty" merchandise), said in a prepared statement the show had been "a great ride so far" for the family, which has approval rights over the script and casting.

"We've enjoyed the process of making a musical alongside the team who is interested in telling the Robertson family story from an outside perspective," said Willie Robertson, whose 2012 book about the family, written with his wife, Korie, is the basis for the musical and the source of its title.

Specificity and strangeness

If the project sounds too strange to be believed, remember that the musical "Avenue Q," which looked like "Sesame Street" with foul-mouthed puppets, won the Tony Award for best musical and made millions of dollars. And no one could have guessed 17 years ago that a show with actors dressed as animals, "The Lion King," would achieve a record-breaking global gross of $6.2 billion and still counting.

Yet, the challenge for the creators of "The Duck Commander Family Musical" is not simply to create a widely appealing show from idiosyncratic material. Unlike movie-to-musical adaptations that now dominate Broadway ("Aladdin," "Kinky Boots," "Once" and others), television has been tricky to adapt to the stage.

Steven Morris, one of the composers of the "Duck Commander" show, said that he believed that "the specificity and the strangeness of the family's lives and home are a great fit for a compelling musical."

The show is expected to feature video of the real Robertsons and duck hunting, interspersed among family anecdotes and a 14-song score that mixes country, blues and show tunes.

"I think the expectation is that it'll be all chicken-pickin' stuff and banjos, but what we're trying to do is pull out as much heart, humor and sincerity as we can to keep people surprised," Morris said.

Minting a Las Vegas success is another gamble. Only two Broadway musicals have been major successes there, "Jersey Boys" and "Mamma Mia!" Both featured pretested hit songs. Plenty of others struggled, including "The Producers" and "Hairspray."

David said the success of "Jersey Boys" convinced him that a show with a familiar brand that appeals strongly to men can do well in Las Vegas.

And Morris predicted that the fan base for "Duck Dynasty" — which has had as many as 11 million viewers, but only 4 million for its season finale in August — would create a sizable audience for the show.