After the runaway easing down the road of The Wiz Live!, NBC has announced that Hairspray will be its next live musical, though there is no premiere date as of yet.
Originally a 1988 film by John Waters starring Ricki Lake and the late Divine, Hairspray is the pencil-mustachioed director's most enduring work, having been adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical in 2002 and then a hit movie five years later.
Possible choices for NBC's next production included The Music Man and A Few Good Men, but according to the network's chairman Robert Greenblatt, Hairspray's focus on race relations and diversity was a major factor in its selection--thanks, Wiz!
Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who were responsible for the last three live musicals (even Peter Pan, proving they can't all be winners) also produced the 2007 movie starring Zac Efron, John Travolta and NBC live musical vets Christopher Walken and Queen Latifah.
Greenblatt said that he's open to Travolta reprising his role as the zaftig-and-loving-it Edna Turnblad, for which he was robbed of an Oscar nomination.
That shimmy alone deserved a Golden Globe.
Unlike Fox's upcoming Grease Live, they don't plan on incorporating a live studio audience, which is a shame because that was about the only thing missing from The Wiz Live!. Well, that and Diana Ross descending from a helicopter and stealing "Home" back from Shanice Williams.
[h/t] THR
