Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson's 'Hairspray Live!' 2016 07 12 Full

• Report rights infringement
• published: 21 Dec 2016
• views: 64

Hairspray Live! is a television special that aired live on NBC on December 7, 2016. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and hosted by Darren Criss, it is a performance of a new adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray. Production Hairspray Live! served as NBC's fourth made-for-TV musical telecast, behind The Wiz Live!, Peter Pan Live!, and The Sound of Music Live!. As with its predecessors, it was executive produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The project was revealed by NBC's entertainment head Bob Greenblatt during a Television Critics Association press tour in January 2016. In response to early reports that NBC was thinking of producing an adaptation of The Music Man, Greenblatt stated that "people have been saying to me since The Wiz, 'Do this show, do that show.' I've heard obscure titles and famous titles. Not everything's going to be a big name to the whole audience. I don’t think there's an infinite number of these that can be done. But we're still doing it." He explained that the production would not try to emulate the 2007 film (also produced by Zadan and Meron),[1] but that he would have been thrilled if John Travolta reprised his role in it.[2] Kenny Leon returned in his role as director from The Wiz, and was joined by Alex Rudzinski—who co-directed Grease: Live for Fox.[3][4] The musical was adapted for television by Harvey Fierstein from the original book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Jerry Mitchell, the choreographer of the Broadway version of Hairspray, was also involved with the adaptation.[5] In contrast to NBC's previous musicals, Hairspray Live! was produced from the Universal Studios backlot; Greenblatt explained that a "fair amount" of the show would be staged in outdoor settings, and thus "have a real exuberance in the open air." Additionally, similarly to Grease: Live, audiences were integrated into relevant scenes as extras on-stage, such as bystanders in Baltimore, and as the studio audience of The Corny Collins Show.[4] In addition to adapting the book, Fierstein reprised his role as Edna Turnblad from the original musical; Greenblatt felt that his performance was "iconic", and that his involvement with Hairspray Live! made it "come full circle".[4] NBC cast the lead role in Hairspray through an open call in New York City, hoping to repeat the "phenomenal discovery" of Shanice Williams for The Wiz. College sophomore Maddie Baillio was cast in the lead role of Tracy Turnblad via a casting call, marking her first professional role.[6] In November 2016, it was announced that Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur would make appearances but with no additional details. Jerry Mitchell noted: “Don’t we want to surprise you?”[7] On November 16, 2016, Winokur discussed their roles, and it was revealed that she and Lake will work "at the racially integrated clothing boutique run by Sean Hayes' character"[8] On November 29, 2016, Darren Criss was tapped to serve as the multiplatform host for the live special in addition to co-hosting Countdown to Hairspray Live with stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes.[9] Two numbers written for the 2007 film, "Ladies' Choice” and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)", were incorporated into the production. "The Big Dollhouse" and "The New Girl In Town" were cut.[10] Disclaimer- Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.