Picture: Brian Bowen Smith/NBC | 2016 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
The US TV production of Hairspray Live! starring Harvey Fierstein, Martin Short, Maddie Baillio, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, Kristin Chenoweth, Dove Cameron and Billy Eichner will be the next show available free of charge on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel.
First broadcast live in the US in the run-up to Christmas 2016, the filmed version of the 2002 Broadway production was the fourth in the NBC series of live broadcasts of major Broadway shows that are now a fixture in the pre-Christmas schedules in the US.
The critic and home audience-pleasing production featured Broadway legend Fierstein who re-created his Tony Award winning performance as Edna Turnblad for the production and also took on the task of adapting the much-loved theatre show for the small screen.
Hudson who was starring on Broadway in the revival of The Color Purple at the time stepped into the role of Motormouth Maybelle, with stage and screen favourite Short playing Wilbur Turnblad, and pop princess Grande as Penny Pingleton.
The star-crammed cast also included Tony Award-winning Broadway star Chenoweth as Velma Von Tussle and newcomer Baillio who won the central role of Tracy Turnblad following an open casting call.
Announcing the production at the time, NBC Entertainment’s then-chairman Robert Greenblatt said: “In keeping with our desire to bring the best of Broadway to our live musicals, we’ve assembled the Broadway dream team of Tony Award winners for Hairspray Live! We’re thrilled to have director Kenny Leon, who knocked The Wiz Live! way out of the park and Jerry Mitchell, the original choreographer of Hairspray, who is the director of two smash hit musicals running on Broadway right now.
“Along with our incredible producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and arguably the best songwriting team in musicals, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray Live! is in the best possible hands.”
The second non-Andrew Lloyd Webber production in streaming service, The Hairspray Live! will be available for 48 hours from 7pm (BST) on Friday 29 May 2020 at www.youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon.
Aimed at giving locked-down theatre fans access to a West End or Broadway experience in their own homes, the new channel was launched last month by Universal Pictures Home Video Entertainment’s Content Group.
A new show is released online every Friday from 7 pm British Standard Time for a limited 48-hour period. With no charge or sign-up fee payable, theatre fans who are able are being asked to make a donation to charitable organisations offering help and support to people in the industry facing hardship as the theatre closedown continues. The charities listed on The Shows Must Go On channel include Acting For Others, Broadway Cares and the Actors Benevolent Fund.
Alongside the full-length shows, clips of famous performances and behind-scenes footage are also being uploaded regularly to the channel.
Angela Thomas
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