HEY THERE BROADWAY FANS! It’s getting closer! We are just 10 days away till Broadway’s biggest night of the year, the 71st Annual Tony Awards. Right now at this time, we are at the TOP 10 portion of our TOP 10 TONY AWARDS COUNTDOWN. Are you ready for more spectacular performances?
At # 10, we travel to Baltimore in the year 1962 where a young teenager girl dreams of dancing on a disc jockey TV show, seeks true love, and tries to integrate her dream TV show. This is of course Hairspray. The show features a score by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman as well as a book by Thomas Meehan and the late Mark O’Donnell.It is based on the acclaimed 1988 film of the same name by John Walters.
From the 2003 telecast, the original Broadway cast perform the showstopping finale number and the show’s anthem YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT.
HAIRSPRAY was first conceived as a musical when producer Margo Lion saw the 1988 film on TV in the year 1998. She contacted Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who were interested in the project. Following many years of readings and workshops, the show had it’s world premiere run early 2002 in Seattle at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.
The show officially arrived on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre a few months later in 2002 running for a total of 2,642 performances. It’s still the Neil Simon Theatre’s longest running show ever. The cast featured Tony winner Harvey Fierstein as “Edna Turnblad”, Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur as “Tracy Turnblad”, Tony nominee Laura Bell Bundy as “Amber Von Tussle”, Linda Hart as “Velma Von Tussle”, Tony nominee Kerry Butler as “Penny Pingleton”, Matthew Morrison in his breakout role as “Link Larken”, Corey Reynolds as “Seaweed J. Stubbs”, Mary Bond Davis as “Motormouth Mabel”, Clarke Thorell as “Corny Collins”, the late Tony winner Dick Latessa as “Wilbur Turnblad” and more. The show had numerous replacements during it’s Broadway run. It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards in 2003 winning 8 including Best Musical.
The musical version of HAIRSPRAY was also captured on film twice. The first remake of the original film (featuring songs from the musical) was released in 2007 featuring an all star cast including John Travolta as “Edna Turnblad”, Nikki Blonsky as “Tracy Turnblad”, Brittany Snow as “Amber Von Tussle”, Michelle Pheiffer as “Velma Von Tussle”, Amanda Bynes as “Penny Pingleton”, Elijah Kelley as “Seaweed J. Stubbs”, Queen Latifah as “Motormouth Mabel”, James Marsden as “Corny Collins”, Christopher Walken as “Wilbur Turnblad”, and more. It went on to be nominated for 3 Golden Globes including Best Picture but lost the categories.
Most recently, NBC presented a live televised musical adaptation this past holiday season. Hairspray Live featured a full all-star cast including Harvey Fierstein reprising his Tony winning performance as “Edna Turnblad”, Maddie Baillio as “Tracy Turnblad”, Dov Cameron as “Amber Von Tussle”, Tony and Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth as “Velma Von Tussle”, Ariana Grande as “Penny Pingleton”, Ephraim Sykes as “Seaweed J. Stubbs”, Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson as “Motormouth”, Derek Hough as “Corny Collins”, Martin Short as “Wilbur, and more.
Doesn’t this show make you wanna dance?!!!
#Hairspray #TonyAwards #NewYorkBroadwayTours #NYBTTonysCountdown #NYBTTop30TonyAwardsCountdown #CountdownToTheTonys #BroadwaysGreatestHits
Original 2002 Broadway cast in a performance of ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’ at the Tony Awards. ***NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED***
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