HAIRSPRAY LIVE! Viewing Thread- Page 14

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:24am

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.

[Petralicious]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:30am

In my Humblest Opinion, I thought it was a fun show, I did get dizzy at some of the shaky cameraas. J Hud and Kristin were amazes. Hough and Ariana were blah

It was way better than Rocky Horror Peter Pan and Wiz, Not as good as Grease of Sound of Music

Can not wait for Bye Bye Birdie
Updated On: 12/8/16 at 09:30 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:41am

ErikJ972 said: ""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+

 

"

 When it's dark in the morning for school in Baltimore....it's the winter and coats are needed.  In the fall and the spring, it's light out.

 

You can use more lights to make it seem like morning....even outside.   Movies are filmed in the middle of the night often -- especially in cities, to keep distractions down. 

 

 

 

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:43am

dramamama611 said: "ErikJ972 said: ""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+

 

"

 When it's dark in the morning for school in Baltimore....it's the winter and coats are needed.  In the fall and the spring, it's light out.

 

You can use more lights to make it seem like morning....even outside.   Movies are filmed in the middle of the night often -- especially in cities, to keep distractions down. "

Clearly. I guess I didn't have a problem with a little willing suspension of disbelief. 

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:48am

I find myself comparing everyone to the original film. The one starring Divine and Ricki Lake. Nothing compares. That film notwithstanding, I still didn't love this tv broadcast.

Harvey, of course is great as Edna. Travolta was so bad, I was not able to watch that film rendition. I was disappointed with Martin Short, as I'm a great fan, and I expected more. Maddie was just fine, I thought. Ariana was wrong for the part of Penny. She looked the part, was an ok comedienne, but she doesn't have a rock voice, and all her songs fell flat, that is, if you could hear them. I thought Chenoweth was fine, and Amber was perfect. Derek was just right for that role, and Link was right for that particular role, which doesn't call for anything more than looking dreamy. Seaweed and Inez were just fine also.

Jennifer Hudson is of course, a phenomenal singer, but again, remembering Ruth Brown, who embodied Motormouth as middle aged, not glamorous, who delivered her song with the right amount of emotion, I thought Hudson delivered her number well, but may have been doing her own concert rather than playing Seaweed's mother.

The beginning of the show dragged for me, but picked up and ended up being entertaining. Made me want to see the original movie tout suite!

[kofler22]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 9:58am

Have you read about the ratings? I thought this was going to be a huge hit, closer to Sound of music! What a shame! 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:06am

I mean, I can kinda picture in Trump America someone turning this on for a sec cause they were curious and didn't know the show, seeing Harvey Fierstein singing, and going "NOPE."

[10086sunset]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:13am

http://deadline.com/2016/12/hairspray-live-ratings-down-from-the-wiz-adiana-grande-nbc-1201866616/

Ratings took a decent sized hit from last year...

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:17am

kofler22 said: "Have you read about the ratings? I thought this was going to be a huge hit, closer to Sound of music! What a shame!"

Well, The Sound of Music had three things going for it:

1. The first live TV musical in over 50 years.
2. It was a title everyone knew.
3. Whether people liked the idea of Carrie Underwood as Maria or not, it still got a lot of people interested enough to tune in.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:20am

I have to say that the direction was a disappointment. Especially with our current state of affairs, Kenny Leon really didn't take a hold of that and tie it to the show as much as I would have helped. Not to mention the constant cuts to Darren Criss (what did we do to deserve that, NBC?)

A new director for next year would help.

"Sound was not the only technical problem. Lighting plagued the entire night, with the scenes in Motormouth Mabel's shop way too dark. "

Ugh, agreed. The lighting was horrendous. Updated On: 12/8/16 at 10:20 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:20am

Fully expected the ratings drop. Very little general buzz around this. 

[newintown]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:23am

Also, there's the fact that men in drag and interracial romances are not acceptable in Trump's Amerika.

Although I suppose Trump's Amerikans wouldn't like The Sound of Music either, because the Nazis get outwitted... (but that would require a bit more thinking on their part).

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:23am

I've just gotten around to seeing the highlight videos NBC has been uploading to their YouTube channel as well as the 'Hairspray Live' Facebook page. 

I am really impressed with the staging for "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now". Very well done.

Confession: I am completely in love with Dove Cameron. Total babe.

[broadwayguy91]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:29am

talk about underwhelming. Grease Live >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hairspray Live.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:38am

Theater_Nerd said: "I've just gotten around to seeing the highlight videos NBC has been uploading to their YouTube channel as well as the 'Hairspray Live' Facebook page. 

I am really impressed with the staging for "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now". Very well done.

"

Glad you enjoyed "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now," cuz I was pretty let down by it. I thought it was pretty stagnant up until the set flew away to reveal the bigger one. And having all three of the girls sing directly into the camera was weird. I'm not sure what the alternative could've been, but this to me was one of the weaker staging/directing choices of the night.

[LostinTranslation]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 10:55am

Here it is streamable. Hairspray LIVE!

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:02am

Are people really complaining about it being dark? This is a live show, people. Forget the cost alone - you want another minute of commercials to pay for a couple of minutes of daylight? - I'm sure rigging up a gazillion lights and then working around them would be impossible. And what if it rained? All that for nothing?

 

And by the way, when we compare it to Grease Live, remember that Alex Rudzinski, the TV director that shared the Emmy with Thomas Kail last year, was the TV director this year. And he even says this production was definitely more ambitious and epic that Grease was last year. 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:04am

I actually loved the night-for-day, especially at dusk in the opening (which, come on, looks the same as early morning). It really felt like a special event. 

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:04am

oh, I left out Andrea Martin. oy, not enjoyable.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:04am

oh, I left out Andrea Martin. oy, not enjoyable.

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:09am

seaweedjstubbs said:


Glad you enjoyed "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now," cuz I was pretty let down by it. I thought it was pretty stagnant up until the set flew away to reveal the bigger one. And having all three of the girls sing directly into the camera was weird. I'm not sure what the alternative could've been, but this to me was one of the weaker staging/directing choices of the night.

Do you have any ideas how you would have staged it? I would love to read them.

 

 

 

 

[teddy1996]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:11am

Jennifer Hudson is an incredibly talented performer. She did a fantastic job as motormouth. Maybelle is meant to be the perfect confluence of Hairspray's two themes: the struggle for civil rights and fat acceptance. She's a woman who's been told by both law and society that she ought to feel less than because she's black and because she's fat. And Maybelle, despite all of that, loves herself. She loves the parts of herself that she's been told all her life she shouldn't, her blackness and her size. Big, Blonde, and Beautiful is meant to be an anthem that speaks to those two themes. i felt that the costume designers should have padded her up since motormouth maybelle is supposed to be a big woman. but overall, she was outstanding.

[newintown]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:13am

"Are people really complaining about it being dark?"

When the performers' faces are barely visible, yes, sure, why not?

"I actually loved the night-for-day, especially at dusk in the opening..."

Perhaps we have very different televisions, but that looked like the middle of the night to us, not dusk.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:15am

I grew up with the PBS broadcasts of Sunday in the Park and Into the Woods. They let the actors perform their well rehearsed stage production and let the cameramen compose close up shots. More recently we got that lovely broadcast of She Loves Me.

The "Live Musicals!" on NBC and Fox have been sloppy and the Broadway performers keep outclassing the bland leads. I loved Chenoweth, Andrea Martin and Dove. The rest of the cast were meh. It also reminded me how underwritten the male characters are. Link, Wilbur, Seaweed and Corny don't make an impression unless the actors bring some personality to them.

Updated On: 12/8/16 at 11:15 AM

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 12/8/16 at 11:17am

I have to say that while watching the highlight video for "Good Morning Baltimore" I laughed because I was thinking to myself if someone fell asleep at the switch and failed to light the set properly so it could reflect daytime. 

It was pretty odd. 

Then again, maybe Tracy and the rest of the neighborhood get their day started at 4 am, LOL.

Updated On: 12/8/16 at 11:17 AM