NBC’s Next Live Musical Event Will Be Hairspray

The Tony-winning Best Musical premiered on Broadway in 2002 at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it starred Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Dick Latessa.

Live musicals on TV are all the buzz these days, so why not take on another!

Assuming the deal is closed, NBC hopes to air their Hairspray musical in December.

Fresh off of Mary J. Blige & Co.’s production of The Wiz LIVE! back in December, it’s now confirmed that NBC’s live stage show for 2016 will be Hairspray! “That’s all we have so far”.

Chairman of Entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, revealed the news on Wednesday at the Peacock’s portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Tour.

No word yet on who will be joining the cast of “Hairspray Live!”.

Meron and Zadan previously produced the 2007 feature film adaptation of the musical. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will return as executive producers. The film version starred John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky. The network started with The Sound of Music Live! in 2013 and followed up with Peter Pan Live! and The Wiz Live! in 2014 and 2015 respectively. “It’s a beloved show by a lot of people”, Greenblatt said of its success.

Fox is also joining the live event game, putting on a live version of “Grease” on January 31.