Hairspray Live!
Aired on Dec. 7 NBC 8/7 CST
Every year, NBC puts on a live rendition of a Broadway musical with an original cast. In the past they’ve performed The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, and The Wiz.
This year, we get Hairspray!
The live musical is set in the 1960s in Baltimore, Maryland. Tracy Turnblad is a teenage girl who spends her time after school watching “The Corny Collins Show,” dreaming of becoming a famous dancer on the show. She auditions for the show and amazingly makes it. Tracy turned everything around in Baltimore, getting rid of “Negro Day” and changing “The Corny Collins Show” into a fully integrated dance show.
Hairspray has to be one of my favorite Broadway musicals, but… not one of my favorite NBC Live! musicals. Yes, the dancing was great, but the acting was okay, which — in my opinion — really makes a show (even though it’s a musical.) But to get into specifics, let’s make a list. I’m not some professional critic so… bear with me.
How about we start with the good stuff?
Best Cast Member
Ah, I’d probably have to go with Kristin Chenoweth. Though I thought she had too many songs to herself, she did a good job acting. I loved her as Amber Von Tussel’s mother, Velma Von Tussel, and — as always — killed it with the vocals.
Best Dressed
It’s a tie between Dove Cameron and Jennifer Hudson. Dove’s dresses were absolutely gorgeous but Jen’s jumpsuits were just stunning. All in all, every single costume was awesome and definitely hit the 60s style! Kudos to the costume designer.
Best Musical Number
One of my all-time favorite songs from Hairspray, You Can’t Stop the Beat. Maddie Baillio’s (Tracy Turnblad) voice was weaker in this song and you could totally tell she was out of breath (I mean, I totally don’t blame her. I’d be huffing and puffing throughout the whole show) but it wasn’t that big of a problem for me to throw the whole performance out the window. Every character did an amazing job in this number.
And now for the… bad things about Hairspray Live!
Worst Cast Member
I’m sorry guys, but it has to be Ariana Grande. She really didn’t fit the role of Penny and I just got a whole lot of Cat Valentine. Grande did have some cute outfits and she did belt out, but that’s not Penny.
Worst Dressed
I couldn’t really decide on the worst dressed. Every costume was so good!
Worst Musical Number
It has to be “(You’re) Timeless to Me.” I find it so awkward that little tiny Martin Short has to hold another guy. Short did sing really well but it wasn’t enough to make up for Harvey Fierstein’s awful “singing” voice.
So I guess in review, Hairspray Live! wasn’t so bad, but there were a handful of things that ruined it for me. In conclusion, I’d give this production a 4.5 stars out of 5. I’d love to hear your opinions on this, so comment below! If you haven’t watched Hairspray Live! already, do it while you can here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKb_oqMnogs
EDIT: The videos might not work. And the link to the full show does not work anymore.
Stay groovy!
