"Hairspray Live!" _ NBC's next musical based on the 2002 Broadway hit and airing Dec. 7 _ has added Rosie O'Donnell and Sean Hayes to the cast, co-producer Craig Zadan announced last week at the TV critics' press tour in Beverly Hills.
Big news indeed for "Hairspray" fans, and now "Hairspray Live!" _ which will return Harvey Fierstein to the role he memorably established on Broadway nearly 15 years ago, as Edna Turnblad _ is nearly complete, as far as casting is concerned.
O'Donnell will play the Gym Teacher (which Jackie Hoffman originated on Broadway) and Hayes will play Mr. Pinky, the dress shop owner.
Still to be cast are two key roles: Seaweed J. Stubbs, son of Motormouth Maybelle, and his sister, Little Inez. Both are vital roles in a production that's at heart about race, racism and integration. (Neither Zadan nor co-producer Neil Meron had news on that casting front.)
Also to be determined: Whether O'Donnell will also take on a couple of other minor roles played by Hoffman in the original Broadway production.
Here's where the cast stands at the moment: Tracy Turnblad will be played by newcomer Maddie Baillio; Kristin Chenoweth is Velma Von Tussle (the villain); Ariana Grande is Tracy pal Penny Pingleton; Disney Channel star Dove Cameron ("Liv and Maddie") is stage brat Amber Von Tussle (who was played long ago by Laura Bell Bundy); Martin Short is Tracy's nice-guy dad, Wilbur; and Derek Hough is Corny Collins, host of the Baltimore TV dance show "The Corny Collins Show."
During the panel session, referring to Fierstein and the rest of the cast and producers, "Live!'s" director, Broadway veteran Kenny Leon, said: "This man is one of the dearest human beings that I know on the planet, and to play this, he is the only person to do it. We also worked together on 'The Wiz,' and he wrote that adaptation, too. So now we come back to do this together and have complete trust in each other. But also, this entire team here: We've got Marc Shaiman. We've got Scott Wittman. They are original composers. We got Jerry Mitchell, who did the original choreography. We've got these guys who did the 2007 film. So we are going to put all of that in the pot and come up with something that's different from all of what came before because it's about these artists and how they approach it. And we will come up with something that will make people at home feel like it's live, it's now, and also show what 1962 Baltimore has to do with 2017 America."
The NBC production _ unlike the network's previous two live musicals that were telecast from Bethpage's Grumman Studios _ will originate from the Universal Studios lot in Universal City, California.
