“Hairspray,” the underground John Waters film turned Broadway smash hit turned musical film about a plucky plus-sized girl in 1960s Baltimore who decides to audition for a TV dance show, is one of the more comforting musicals to stream (or listen to cast recordings to) during this time. Tracy Turnblad’s immense optimism and determination coupled with peppy ‘60s inspired tunes make for a sunny hour-and-half watch, which is all we need when the entire world is on fire.
On May 30 at 2 a.m. (Philippine time), “Hairspray Live!” will be available for streaming for free on YouTube. It’ll be hosted by The Shows Must Go On’s YouTube channel, and it’ll be up for only 48 hours.
“Hairspray Live!” was recorded in 2016, and was part of their string of made-for-TV musical telecasts. It’s the version featuring Maddie Baillio as Tracy, Harvey Fierstein as Tracy’s mother, Edna, Ariana Grande as Penny, Jennifer Hudson as Maybelle “Motormouth” Stubbs, Kristin Chenoweth as Velma Von Tussle and Billy Eichner as Rob Barker, among others. Fierstein also provided the new teleplay and “Kinky Boot”’s Jerry Mitchell led the choreography.
ICYDK, The Shows Must Go On is a platform that provides “theater streamings and non-bootleg recordings…for free, or for a small donation fee, during the COVID-19 pandemic.” It airs a new full-length play every Friday (well, Saturday for us PH viewers) for 48 hours. Past streams include “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Photo screen grabbed from the “Hairspray Live!” preview
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