Ephraim Sykes, late of Hamilton, brought some real energy to the production as Seaweed - but so much of Seaweed’s arc depends on sparkly chemistry with Penny. As a dancer, Ariana Grande sure can sing. There was a sense that the performers weren’t quite all on the same page. With Hairspray Live !, more was never more enough.īut the first half of Hairspray dragged a bit. Coincidentally, during one commercial break, there was a perfume ad with three Ariana Grandes. Technically, there were three Tracy Turnblads: Ricki Lake (from the original film) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (from the original Broadway show) swung by for a cameo. The cast featured Tony winners, plural, and Disney stars, plural. Several major numbers followed Maddie Baillio’s Tracy Turnblad through “Baltimore,” played by the Universal backlot and a small civilization of dancing extras. Hairspray brought the Wiz band back together - directed by Kenny Leon, adapted into teleplay from Harvey Fierstein - and it upped the ambition further.

Peter Pan Live! had the garish production value.

Credit them for magical thinking - and for their steady improvements. Meanwhile, Zadan and Meron have made the NBC musical an annual tradition. There’s too much good TV for the average human to love - and too much real hate for the average human to watch. Three years later, I’m not quite sure people hatewatch anymore.

Watch hairspray live full