Jennifer Hudson and Harvey Fierstein are set to be in NBC’s “Hairspray Live!,” the networks next live Broadway musical.
Hudson will play Motormouth Maybelle and Fierstein will play Edna Turnblad, a role for which he was awarded a Tony for in the stage version. Fierstein will also write the teleplay.
Hudson, who is currently starring on Broadway in a revival of “The Color Purple” will be reunited with executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who worked with her on NBC’s “Smash,” while working on “Hairspray Live!”
Joining Zadan and Meron will be Alex Rudzinski, director of “Grease Live!,” to serve as director. Jerry Mitchell, from “Kinky Boots” and “On Your Feet” will serve as choreographer for the live production, with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who worked on “Smash” and Broadway’s upcoming “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
“We are beyond thrilled with this incredibly talented duo of stars for ‘Hairspray Live!,’” said NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. “Harvey Fierstein created the role of Edna Turnblad on Broadway in an indelible Tony-winning performance that demanded to be memorialized on film, and we’re happy he wanted to step into her shoes one last, unforgettable time. We’re also so grateful that the incomparable Jennifer Hudson will play Motormouth Maybelle and we know her rendition of ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ will literally stop the show.”
Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “Hairspray Live!” takes place in 1962 Baltimore where teenager Tracy Turnblad’s dream is to dance on a local TV show called “The Corny Collins Show.” The rest of the cast has yet to be announced but will include roles for: Tracy,, Tracy’s mother, the resident dreamboat, Link; the ambitious mean girl, Amber; an African-American boy and Motormouth Maybelle’s son Seaweed.
NBC will premiere “Hairspray Live!” on December 7, 2016 at 8 p.m.
