The Shows Must Go On has been streaming all the Broadway favorites straight to your home throughout quarantine, and this week is no different. The next show to stream on the YouTube channel will be Hairspray Live!. The broadcast will stream Friday, May 28 at 2 PM (EDT), and the recording will remain accessible for 48 hours.
The Hairspray Live! television special was originally broadcast by NBC in December 2016. Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Hairspray Live! takes place in 1962 Baltimore and focuses on Tracy Turnblad’s dream to dance on “The Corny Collins Show,” a local TV program. The cast of Hairspray Live! features Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad, Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad, Jennifer Hudson as Motormouth Maybelle, Martin Short as Wilbur Turnblad, Derek Hough as Corny Collins, Ariana Grande as Penny Pingleton, Andrea Martin as Prudy Singleton, and Kristin Chenoweth as Velma Von Tussle. Rosie O’Donnell and Sean Hayes also make special appearances.
The Show Must Go On had been airing Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals for the past seven weeks, and most recently branched from exclusive Lloyd Webber programming with last week’s The Sound of Music Live!. The exclusive Andrew Lloyd Webber series streamed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber — The Royal Albert Hall Celebration, By Jeeves, and Cats. Each broadcast had raised funds for The Actors Fund in order to help support those impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.