‘Hairspray Live!’ On NBC Now Has Martin Short And Derek Hough; Cast And Official Release Date Revealed

Hairspray hairspray live nbc Derek Hough vanessa hudgens December jennifer hudson motormouth maybelle martin short Julianne Hough zac efron John Travolta edna turnbland tracy turnbland Wilbur snl Dancing with the Stars nikki blonsky musical play Broadway

By Dianne Franc , Parent Herald Apr 29, 04:53 am

NBC has a new musical to release on Dec. 7 and it is none other than "Hairspray Live!" This will feature some of the biggest names in Hollywood like comedian Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnbland and Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle. The network announced on April 27 that they are adding "Dancing With The Stars" dancer Derek Hough and SNL alum, Martin Short.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the recent addition to "Hairspray Live!" on NBC and fans of the musical are already thrilled about it. Derek Hough from "Dancing With The Stars" was chosen to play the role of Corny Collins while Martin Short takes the role of Edna Turnbland's spouse, Wilbur.

A photo posted by Derek Hough (@derekhough) on Apr 27, 2016 at 3:12pm PDT

Billboard reported that Harvey Fierstein is the genius behind the screenplay of "Hairspray Live!" for NBC. Executive producers of the show, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron applauded him for this project and are hopeful that fans would love it. This is not the first time that this hit Broadway musical was recreated outside the conventional theatre. Back in 2007, a movie bearing the same musical's story starring John Travolta as Edna Turnbland was released along with Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron.

This new edition of the Broadway play would be a little different since the platform is on television. The story, however, would be the same, which would revolve around the life of Tracy Turnblad. She is a teenage girl who dreams to be a part of "The Corny Collins Show." She didn't stop until she was able to make it and became an instant celebrity. The story of "Hairspray Live!" focuses on racial discrimination back in the 60s.

Today, a lot of people are saying that "Hairspray Live!" is kind of like a counterpart of FOX's "Grease Live," which starred Julianne Hough, Vanessa Hudgens and Aaron Tveit. Watch "Hairspray Live" on Dec. 7, 8 p.m. on NBC, where everything will be aired straight from Los Angeles.

Do you think that NBC copied Fox idea on turning famous Broadway musicals to a live TV show? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.