TV News

Hairspray Will Be NBC's Next Live Musical

The production will hit the airwaves later this year.

New York City
Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein as Tracy Turnblad and Edna Turnblad in the 2002 Broadway production of Hairspray.
Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein as Tracy Turnblad and Edna Turnblad in the 2002 Broadway production of Hairspray.
(© Paul Kolnik)

NBC has announced the hopeful choice for its 2016 live musical broadcast: Hairspray.

The news was revealed during NBC's session at this year's Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles. The deal is not yet confirmed, however. Like all of the network's live broadcasts, the show will air this coming December.

Hairspray features a Tony-winning score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and a Tony-winning book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Based on the film by John Waters, it tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, an overweight Baltimore teen with dreams of landing a spot on a TV dance show and bringing racial integration with her. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced the 2007 movie-musical version of Hairspray, will produce the live television edition.

The Tony-winning Best Musical premiered on Broadway in 2002 at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it starred Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Dick Latessa. The trio received Tony Awards for their performances. The film version starred John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky.

Additional information about NBC's live production of Hairspray will be revealed in the coming months.