Viewership dips for NBC’s live showing of ‘Hairspray’

Can you hear the bells?

So far, Hairspray Live! has kept very close to its musical and movie roots, and I think that’s super important. The energy, the transcendence that you experience in a theater during a great moment in a musical can not be communicated through a TV screen. The event is filled with stars from all areas of the entertainment industry. The story is about a teenager fighting for equality in Baltimore in the 1960s, when the city and all of America were largely segregated. The latest is an NBC offering of “Hairspray Live!”, the story of Baltimore native Tracy Turnblad whose dream is to dance on a local TV show. However, Tracy doesn’t fit in with the other dancers because of her size and her radical ideas about civil rights. However, her goal morphs as she tries to integrate the performers on the show.

Wednesday, December 7 at 8/7c on NBC.

Who was the MVP of “Hairspray Live”? “The Wiz” aired this time a year ago, and in addition to Leon’s DGA bid it was also recognized by the Costume Designers Guild and the Art Directors Guild. 6 million viewers; “The Wiz” came in second with 11.5 million; and “Peter Pan” was third with 9.2 million.

There was one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it attractive moment that stood out in a three-hour broadcast of them, though, and it’s one that had musical theater geeks and Hairspray fanatics freaking out over two utterly ideal cameos.

Watch the live special right here on KAGS at 7 p.m. CT!

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“We did some press which is when I properly met Ariana; she’s such a doll-and-a-half”.

Hairspray Live! is also a kind of nostalgia trip that takes you back to a time when even though things were complicated, life was relatively simpler.

Texas native Maddie Baillio, 20, plays Tracy in the new production and agrees with that assessment. “There is so much more to this character”, someone tweeted. Now, Texas native and Marymount Manhattan student Maddie Baillio will make her debut.

Taking a cue from Fox’s Grease Live!, which Rudzinski directed, NBC spread this production around the Universal backlot, throwing an audience into the mix.

But for sixty-something American actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein, he’s been the voice of generations.

The musical also stars Derek Hough as Corny Collins; Ariana Grande as Tracy’s pal Penny; Ephraim Sykes as Seaweed; Oscar victor Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle; Dove Cameron as Amber Von Tussle; and Garrett Clayton as Link.

Hairspray’s cast is led by newcomer Maddie Baillio in the role of Tracy Turnblad and original Broadway Tony victor Harvey Fierstein, who is reprising his performance as Edna.