NBC hopes some innovative approaches will keep viewers interested and point the way toward more creativity among advertisers at a time viewers are accustomed to fast-forwarding through commercials. The live musical, which is quickly becoming a December tradition for NBC, is “the biggest test kitchen that we could possibly have,” said Linda Yaccarino, chairwoman of advertising sales and client partnerships at the network.
The live television musical has evolved into a bicoastal enterprise. What started out, with 2013’s The Sound of Music Live!, in a lower Broadway rehearsal space in New York, has evolved into a full-blown production on the Universal Studios backlot in California for Hairspray Live! which premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. on NBC.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Broadway performers Ephraim Sykes and Shahadi Wright Joseph are joining the cast of NBC’s “Hairspray Live!” Sykes, an original company member with the hit musical “Hamilton,” […]
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Jennifer Hudson and Harvey Fierstein have signed on to NBC’s Hairspray Live, the network’s next live Broadway musical. Hudson will play Motormouth Maybelle, while Fierstein will star as Edna Turnblad, the role he won a Tony for in the stage version. He will also write the teleplay.
