We are only 1 hour and 30 minutes away from NBC’s Hairspray Live. Our throwback to the 2003 Tony Award winning musical continues with the trailer to the 2007 film version. This was considered as the 1st remake of Hairspray but the 1st version inspired by the stage musical.
The 2007 film featured a full entire all star Hollywood cast including..
John Travolta as Edna Turnblad,
Nikki Blonsky (in her film debut) as Tracy Turnblad,
Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad,
Zac Effron as Link Larkin,
Amanda Bynes as Penny Lou Pingleton,
Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle,
Michelle phiffer as Velma Von Tussle
Queen Latifah as Motormouth Mabel,
Allison Janney as Prudy Pingleton,
and more.
The film featured songs from the stage musicals plus some new songs written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. 2 of the songs from the film LADIES CHOICE and COME SO FAR will be featured in tonight’s live presentation.
The film was met with positive reviews however some people (super fans of the stage version) were not happy with Travolta’s performance of Edna.
Now till tonight’s NBC’s Hairspray Live, we are going to be pulling out a lot of Hairspray Throwback sharing some of the best moments during Hairspray’s time when it was here on Broadway and more.
DID YOU KNOW: Prior to becoming the first Broadway replacement “Elphaba” in WICKED The Musical, soulful powerhouse singing sensation Shoshana Bean was part of Hairspray’s original Broadway cast. She was part of the Ensemble in the role of Corny Collins council member “Shelly” and even served as the understudy for “Tracy Turnblad” . Yup, she had to wear a bodysuit to make her look like an overweight teen whenever she went on for “Tracy”. Anyway, here’s a clip of Shoshana bringing down the house with her rendition of musical’s opening song GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE.
I do not have the copyright for this video, it is only for entertainment purposes. Can and will be deleted if requested. Hairspray Broadway @ 2003. Full show…
THE WAIT IS OVER! Tonight is NBC’s long awaited anticipation of their 4th annual live televised musical, the 2003 Tony Award winning smash hit Hairspray.
To celebrate, here is a little throwback once again of…
Clarke Thorell as Corny Collins,
Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tracy Turnblad,
Pre-Glee Matthew Morrison (in his breakout role) as Link Larkin,
Kerry Butler as Penny Lou Pingleton,
Tony nominee Corey Reynolds as Seaweed J. Stubbs,
Tony winner Harvey Fierstein (who is reprising his Award winning performance in the live televised presentation tonight) as Edna Turnblad
Tony winner Dick Latessa as Wilbur Turnblad,
Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Mabel,
Laura Bell Bundy as Amber Von Tussle,
Linda Hart as Velma Von Tussle,
and members of the original Broadway cast performing the showstopping finale YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT on the 2003 Tony Awards.
Hairspray Live begins at 7:30pm with a half hour behind the scenes preshow special hosted by cast members (in tonight’s presentation) Tony and Emmy winner Kristin Chenoweth and Emmy winner and Tony nominee Sean Hayes. Then at 8pm, the live presentation begins live from the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot in Los Angeles.
GET READY BALTIMORE! NBC’s 4th annual televised musical Hairspray Live airs tomorrow night at 8pm.
To get us in the mood, here is a B-Roll montage of scenes from Hairspray’s original Broadway production. This features the original Broadway cast which included…
Harvey Fierstein (who is reprising his acclaimed performance from Broadway in the live presentation tomorrow night) as Edna Turnblad,
Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tracy Turnblad,
Matthew Morrison (in his Pre-Glee breakout role) as Link Larken,
Corey Reynolds as Seaweed J. Stubbs
Dick Latessa as Wilbur Turnblad,
Clarke Thorell as Corny Collins,
Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Mabel,
Kerry Butler as Penny Lou Pingleton,
Laura Bell Bundy as Amber Von Tussle,
Linda Hart as Velma Von Tussle,
Jackie Hoffman as Prudy Pingleton & others,
and many more.
HAIRSPRAY originally in Seattle at The 5th Avenue Theatre in 2002 before making it ‘s way into Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. It won 8 Tony Awards in 2003 including Best Musical. The original Broadway production closed in January 2009 and ran 2,642 performances. It’s currently the 21st longest running show in Broadway History. Productions are continued to be performed worldwide. And it’s been rumored that HAIRSPRAY might hit Broadway again soon.
With this Wednesday’s televised presentation of NBC’s Hairspray Live being filmed indoors/outdoors on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, the crew and creative team have a backup plan in case it rains.
In addition, there is already rumors that Hairspray will possibly boogie it’s way back to Broadway after the live presentation. NBC already set to have last year’s live televised musical The Wiz hit Broadway (which no word has been announced yet when it will happen).
