NBC's 2016 production of Hairspray Live! will be broadcast online as part Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Shows Must Go On! The show will launch this Friday at 7:00pm and be available for 48 hours. The stream will be available on The Shows Must Go On's YouTube channel.
The all-star cast of Hairspray Live! features newcomer Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad, Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad, Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle, Martin Short as Wilbur Turnblad, Derek Hough as Corny Collins, Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, Andrea Martin as Prudy Singleton and Kristin Chenoweth as Velma Von Tussle. Rosie O'Donnell and Sean Hayes also make special appearances in the broadcast.
Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Hairspray Live! takes place in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland. Teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on "The Corny Collins Show," a local TV program. When, against all odds, Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight and meets a colorful array of characters, including the resident dreamboat, Link; the ambitious mean girl, Amber; an African-American boy she meets in detention, Seaweed; and his mother, Motormouth Maybelle, the owner of a local record store. Tracy's mother is the indomitable Edna Turnblad, and she eventually encourages Tracy on her campaign to integrate the all-white "Corny Collins Show."
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