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Back to Baltimore 1962, in ‘Hairspray Live!’
To its ambitious live productions of “The Sound of Music,” “Peter Pan” and “The Wiz,” NBC has added “Hairspray,” with its cast of “the sugar and spice-est, nicest kids in town.” Based on the Tony-winning Broadway musical spun from the 1988 John Waters film, “Hairspray Live!” (Wednesday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m.) follows a zaftig teenager onto the dance floor in 1962 Baltimore as she dreams of racial equality while shaking and shimmying her way to stardom on the all-white “Corny Collins Show.”
Maddie Baillio, a jazz singer, plays Tracy Turnblad, the unlikely celebrity; and Dove Cameron is her archrival, Amber Von Tussle; Kristin Chenoweth is Amber’s mother, Velma, the show’s manipulative producer; Ariana Grande is Penny Pingleton, Tracy’s incorrigible bestie; and Jennifer Hudson is Motormouth Maybelle, a deeply hip record-store owner. And Harvey Fierstein — who wrote this adaptation’s teleplay — reprises his role as Tracy’s indomitable mom, Edna, who encourages her daughter’s rainbow vision.
An article last Sunday about NBC’s live production of “Hairspray” misidentified an earlier live production by the network. It was “The Wiz,” not “The Wizard of Oz.”
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