L-R: Garrett Clayton as Link Larkin, Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, Ephraim Sykes as Seaweed J. Stubbs in “Hairspray Live!”; Paul Drinkwater/NBCHairspray Live! the three-hour musical adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray, about a girl who finds overnight success in 1962 Baltimore, aired Wednesday night on NBC. And the production managed to delight, despite a few flubs, and a stumble from Ariana Grande.
Overall, the show went off without a hitch, save for some microphone and lighting glitches, and Ariana’s trip during the number, “I Can Hear the Bells” — although if you blinked, you might have missed it.
Ariana, who played Penny Pingleton, didn’t have any problems belting out other songs in the show, like “Without Love” and the finale, “We Can’t Stop the Beat.” She also joined Jennifer Hudson for an encore duet, “Come So Far (Got So Far to Go),” as the cast took their bows.
The production also starred Dancing with the Stars pro Derek Hough, Broadway vets, Harvey Fierstein, Andrea Martin and Kristin Chenoweth, Martin Short, Sean Hayes, Billy on the Street’s Billy Eichner, and newcomer Maddie Baillio, as Tracy Turnblad. It also utilized the live audience as the audience for the play’s fictional Corny Collins Show, as well as the finale, which featured
There were also surprise cameos from former Tracy Turnblads Rikki Lake and Marissa Winokur, as Mr. Pinky’s assistants, as well as the original “Dynamites.”
As with previous live TV adaptations, fans expecting a live version of either the 1988 John Waters film or the 2007 reboot were probably a little lost, since this one stayed truer to the Broadway play. The show also didn’t shy away from drawing parallels between the 60s civil rights movement and current tensions.
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