Broadway’s finest and most talented creatives for its upcoming production of ‘Hairspray Live’
The cast of "Hairspray Live" set to air in December on NBC (Photo by New Line Cinema).
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – NBC is assembling an all-star team of Broadway’s finest and most talented creatives for its upcoming production of “Hairspray Live,” the network’s latest stage musical following the phenomenal success of “The Wiz Live.”
The telecast will air Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
“In keeping with our desire to bring the best of Broadway to our live musicals, we’ve assembled the Broadway dream team of Tony Award winners for ‘Hairspray Live,’” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to have director Kenny Leon, who knocked ‘The Wiz Live’ way out of the park, and Jerry Mitchell, the original choreographer of ‘Hairspray’ and who is the director of two smash hit musicals running on Broadway right now.
“We also have one of the most celebrated Broadway hyphenates, Harvey Fierstein, back writing the adaptation for TV. No one knows ‘Hairspray’ better than him since he played the role of Edna Turnblad more than a thousand times and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Along with our incredible producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and arguably the best songwriting team in musicals, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, ‘Hairspray Live’ is in the best possible hands.”
Kenny Leon is a Tony Award-winning Broadway director who received raves for his work on NBC’s “The Wiz Live.” His 2014 Broadway credits include hip-hop musical “Holler If Ya Hear Me” and the revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” which starred Denzel Washington, Anika Noni Rose, Sophie Okonedo and LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and earned Leon a Tony for Best Director. “A Raisin in the Sun” also won Best Revival of a Play. Leon was also nominated in 2010 for the Broadway production of “Fences.” He received a 2009 DGA nomination for the television adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun.” Other small-screen credits include TV movies “Steel Magnolias” “In My Dreams,” and “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” as well as television shows such as “Ghost Whisperer” and “Private Practice.”
