HAIRSPRAY LIVE! Viewing Thread — Page 13

The whole thing was a "meh." Not as bad as the lackluster "The Wiz," but it was just kind of boring. It's such a solid show, but there were no surprises or anything to make it exciting. I thought Dove and JHud were the highlights with Short and Harvey being close seconds - but of, course they're good. Grande left SO MUCH to be desired. She's a terrible actress and her breathy vocals didn't work in the part. Maddie was fine? I guess. I don't know. Her performance just didn't do anything for me either way.

The direction here was awful. Much like The Wiz - why is it staged as a proscenium show. Tracy watching the TV show could have been such a cool effect or cool camera work, but instead it's just so boring. There was no thought or concept put into this at all. Felt very safe and boring.

I had an absolute blast watching the show, which I think was phenomenally cast from top to bottom. Yes, there were some glitches, but they didn't take away from the overall success of the show for me.



Having praised the cast as a whole, I do have to give a shout-out to Maddie Baillio, who absolutely slayed every single one of the songs she was involved in, and who really needs to be given a chance to shine on Broadway.

A+

Updated On: 12/8/16 at 12:55 AM

I loved Ariana and don't understand why other people didn't. Every line she spoke made me laugh out loud. She really is masterful at comedy, from Victorious, to Scream Queens, especially in Saturday Night Live, and now this.

CindersGolightly said: "I loved Ariana and don't understand why other people didn't. Every line she spoke made me laugh out loud. She really is masterful at comedy, from Victorious, to Scream Queens, especially in Saturday Night Live, and now this.



"

I thought Ariana was awesome too.

If they don't stabilize some of those shaky shots for the DVD it'll be a real shame. Especially since most of us can stabilize shaky videos on our phones now. The camera always seemed to be shaking during some of the more dramatic moments.

Calling Ariana masterful at comedy is just a disgrace to comedy. Penny is a great chatcter and if I had no idea that Penny was supposed to be comedic, I'd think she was just a pretty girl that prented to be a dork. She want good. Besides Link and Ariana, the whole cast was superb and I absolutely enjoyed it. The best live musical yet.

smallvillefan16 said: "No! no! no! My DVR didn't record this! Anywhere I can watch it? I'm devastated. Saw "Amelie: The Musical" over this"

first guess is the internet, but i believe NBC will probably show it again soon like they've done for some of the past live musicals.

After The Wiz last year NBC was showing a replay instantly online, anyone have a replay link?! Can't find one.

As stated, I really enjoyed this...by far the best "live " musical to date.



The musical numbers were the best part, with the book scenes suffering the most, bad diction, flubbed lines, and lack of character hurt many performers. which goes to the point some of us were discussing earlier: .great singing performances, but where does your emotions/character/life go while talking? Guilty of this was Derek, JHUD and Maddie.

But, as I nice change, the good far outweighed the bad....here's to moving forward!

For me, it was an overambitious mess, but an enjoyable one. Not sure if they felt challenged to rise to the production levels of Grease, but whatever the reasons, it was overproduced and overdirected. It detracted from the piece.

"Why was "Good Morning, Baltimore" taking place at night?"

Because they shot it outside and it was strating to get dark in LA. I work in a school and it's still dark in the moring when I'm on the way there so I just though it was early morning Baltimore :)

I loved this. By far my favorite of the live TV musicals, in fact it's the first one I made it all the way through (never saw Grease live though). There were a few tech problems but it didn't impact my enjoyment of the show as a whole.

I thought the cast was great...except for Link. And it was great to be able to see all the original choreography again.

And what a great message to have on TV after this year's divisive election.

Two thumbs up, four stars, A+

I rewatched the movie recently and liked Travolta's performance much more than I remebered. There's a sweetness to it. But no...not better than Harvey.

My thoughts:

I loved Maddie Baillio as Tracy. I thought she was adorable, had a great "stage" presence - didn't seem nervous at all - and she had a wonderful voice.

I loved all of the adults - Harvey Fierstein, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Derek Hough, Rosie O'Donnell, Jennifer Hudson, Paul Vogt all gave A+ performances. I loved everything about all of them.

Kristin's "Miss Baltimore Crabs" had me teary eyed for Tracy. I have never felt Tracy was SO targeted before until last night. It was so rude and demeaning but in the best way. What a fantastic performance all around for Kristin.

Harvey was fantastic but no surprises there. Also loved Martin Short and I usually think Wilbur is the weakest character.

Derek Hough was the most perfect Corny. While I didn't like that they included "Ladies Choice" in the live broadcast, he was the best choice for who was going to sing it.

The only "negative" I have about the adults is Jennifer Hudson is certainly not big...just blonde and beautiful, so, I wish they added some padding to her or something within her costumes as they used to do for some of the actors on Broadway. Her voice absolutely blew me away.

My favorite number was Welcome to the 60's. Between the two original Tracy's, the original choreography, the original dynamites, the costume changes...I was in heaven. Loved every second of it.

My least favorite was Run and Tell That. I'm not sure why it seemed Ephraim Sykes was so...slow? Off? Different paced? than what I was used to hearing, but, for one of my favorite songs, I was incredibly disappointed by this number.

I was SO thrilled they used the original choreography. Knew there would be some but didn't expect it to be the entire show. Couldn't stop myself from dancing along to You Can't Stop The Beat!

I know people have been complaining about the lighting / sound but in my opinion, it didn't bother me when a mic would randomly drop because that's just stuff that can happen when it's truly live. Yes I said "uh oh" every time something went wrong, but, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the whole night.

I'm still sad they cut out The Big Doll House - I LOVED that number on Broadway.

Cutting Cheno out of the curtain call / bows to pan to Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande was a BIG mistake that I can not forgive. lol. The only technical "glitch" that truly bothered me.

Speaking of Ariana Grande - boy did I hate her performance. Wasn't funny, wasn't dorky....too much makeup. Felt like she was holding back all night long. Seemed like a cardboard cutout. Penny's lines have always been my favorite and she just didn't deliver. Also - they cut my favorite Penny line! "plastic little spastic!".

Another negative for me would be Garrett Clayton as Link. Felt he lacked charm and personality.

I'm not sure how I feel about Dove Cameron. In the beginning it seemed like she was so focused on delivering her lines clearly that she forgot to act. Another cardboard cutout, I thought. However, I think she really improved the second half and I loved her "Cooties".

I loved the use of the huge backlot, though it was blatantly obvious they were trying to compete directly with Grease Live! - however - Grease Live! WORKED so, hey, why not?

I thought Darren Criss was completely unnecessary.

Overall, I thought it was such a joyous night. Hairspray was my first Broadway show and is still my all time favorite musical. I honestly think it was the best live musical on NBC we've seen so far; they took what didn't work in the past and made it work.