Alex Rudzinski and Kenny Leon (The Wiz Live!) are on board as directors for the live musical event and Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are involved as executive producers.
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Hairspray Live!, like the original Hairspray, will focus on teenager Tracy Turnblad growing up and coming-of-age in Baltimore in 1962, during the midst of a cultural, societal, and musical revolution going on in America at the time.
Martin Short and Derek Hough will be joining two other members of the Hairspray Live! cast who have already been confirmed, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, and Harvey Fierstein.
The role of Tracy’s mother Edna has traditionally been played by a male actor, starting with Divine in John Waters’ 1988 film and John Travolta in 2007.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Dancing with the Stars’ Derek Hough as well as legendary comedian Martin Short have joined the cast.
Hough won a pair of Emmys for choreography for the ABC series Dancing With the Stars.
Hough, will be acting as the TV host Corny Collins, and Short will play patriarch Wilbur Turnlad, the beloved husband of Edna Turnblad.
Emmy-winner Short also has a Tony, Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his role in the revival of Little Me.
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“We are beyond thrilled with this incredibly talented duo of stars for Hairspray Live!” said NBC’s Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, according to Today. “We welcome Marty to the network in May in his new variety show with Maya Rudolph and we think he will be the flawless long-term companion to Harvey’s Edna”. After appearing on stage at London’s West End in the 2006 original cast production of Footloose, he then made his Broadway debut in 2010 in Burn the Floor. Hairspray Live! will mark the first time that the annual musical theatrical live specials initiated by NBC will be filmed in Los Angeles. NBC will air Hairspray Live! on December 7, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT. “Hairspray Live!” is produced by Universal Television.
