

That exciting opening night of a Broadway show-if every single Broadway show were captured on opening night and either presented on the streaming platform when the producers were ready to share it, or when the show closed, or during the run.

JM: I think every single show that opens on Broadway should be captured on opening night with the original company, the original sets, the original costumes. And so I love all the dance numbers and the energy the kids are pouring into them.īF: What does it mean to you that theatre productions are now being made available for streaming? It’s game-changing for the stage community in a couple of different ways. The fact that I got to choreograph their first Broadway show and work with them and infuse their music with the kind of joy and full-out energy that I love was really a gift. We were all in our early twenties, we met in New York City and we were doing things Downtown and off-Broadway, and this was their Broadway debut. They wrote the score and we had been friends in New York City for 17 years before the show came along. When I first got involved with Hairspray, it really was because of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Is there anything in particular you’d want fans to check out again when we stream the show? (laughs)īF: The fun thing about it now being available on BroadwayHD is that fans can watch it on their own time, so we can rewatch numbers or take a closer look at details. And so we were going from sound stage to sound stage with the same amount of time you would go from stage right to stage left. A lot of the choreography worked, but there were certain things that I needed to change for camera, and there were also transitions and new pieces that I had to do, because we were doing it live.
#WHEN CAN I WATCH HAIRSPRAY LIVE ONLINE HOW TO#
JM: I had to figure out how to make it work on television.

And if I learned anything about Hairspray in the six years that it ran on Broadway, the experience I would see of families sharing the show really was what was so moving.īF: It’s a different format, so was there any significant change in the choreography for Hairspray Live! versus choreographing for a traditional stage production? So whenever you get a chance to film something or do it on television, I think you just have this opportunity to reach such a large audience. Jerry Mitchell: Television gives the opportunity to reach a lot more people than the theater. So when NBC decided to do Hairspray Live! what made you want to come back and choreograph that production?
#WHEN CAN I WATCH HAIRSPRAY LIVE ONLINE TV#
Learn what Jerry had to say about choreographing Hairspray again for TV audiences and what he thinks about the Broadway streaming trend-before you stream Hairspray Live! on BroadwayHD, the only streaming service offering premium full-length stage plays and musicals captured specifically for multi-platform viewing to theatre fans across the globe.īrittany Frederick: We had a few years there where live musicals were a TV staple. To celebrate, I spoke with legendary choreographer Jerry Mitchell-who’s responsible for all the impeccable choreography on multiple versions of the production, including Hairspray Live!-to look back on his history with the show and what it meant to stage it one more time. The show’s stellar cast also includes playwright and voice actor, Harvey Fierstein, as Edna Turnblad, Tony-winning actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth (Velma Von Tussle), Disney actress Dove Cameron (Amber Von Tussle) and comedian Martin Short (Wilbur Turnblad).Hairspray Live! was a hit with fans when it revived the iconic Broadway musical for a primetime TV audience, and now BroadwayHD is returning the favor by bringing the 2016 NBC production available for streaming. She’s also a Broadway baby at heart, having debuted on Broadway when she was 15.” Robert Greenblatt, NBC chairman, told Hollywood Reporter: “We’re absolutely thrilled to round out our all-star Hairspray Live! cast with Ariana Grande, one of the biggest recording artists in the world. Meanwhile, pop icon Ariana Grande, named by Time as one of the most influential people in the world in 2019, plays pigtail-wearing Penny Pingleton.

She is joined by Academy Award-winning singer and actress, Jennifer Hudson (as Maybelle “Motormouth” Stubbs), who rose to fame as a finalist on the third season of TV talent contest, American Idol, and made her Broadway debut in the role of Shug Avery in The Color Purple. Friday’s livestream stars American actress Maddie Baillio, best known for her appearance in the 2018 comedy film, Dumplin’, in the lead role of Tracy Turnblad.
