Good morning Baltimore!
NBC has revealed its next live musical and we’re already counting down the days until it airs. The network is set to produce a live version of Hairspray next December, NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt revealed at the 2016 Winter TCA Press Tour on Wednesday.
“We’ll be bringing you Hairspray next December,” he said, before adding, “The deals aren’t closed yet.”
While the deals aren’t closed, Greenblatt confirmed Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who put on live productions of The Wiz, Peter Pan and Sound of Music for the network, will return, with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman set to compose.
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“That’s all we have so far,” Greenblatt said. “They know what they’re doing and we’re really excited. That title seems really fun and I think it will be really great live.
No word yet on who will be joining the cast of Hairspray Live!.
Created by John Waters, Hairspray began was a movie in 1988, starring Ricki Lake and Divine, before hitting Broadway in 2002. In 2007, John Travolta, Zac Efron and Amanda Bynes starred in a film adaptation of Hairspray. And two of its cast members have already appeared in two of NBC’s live musical events: Christopher Walken played Captain Hook in Peter Pan Live! and Queen Latifah starred in The Wiz Live!.
The Wiz Live! became a massive success for the network, bringing in 11.1 million viewers in December, also garnering a 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. It also generated more than 1,600,000 tweets. “It’s a beloved show by a lot of people,” Greenblatt said of its success.
Fox is also joining the live event game, putting on a live version of Grease on Jan. 31.
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