Harvey Fierstein, Jennifer Hudson Star in HAIRSPRAY LIVE!- Page 3

[Tag]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 12:41pm

In addition to the MANY things NBC can learn from Grease Live, they should realize that adding in new songs just doesn't work.  (ie. the Carly Rae Jepsen disaster ballad)

Listening Marc? 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 12:46pm

I assume they'll use "The New Girl In Town" and cut "Cooties".

 

I could also see them writing a new ballad for Tracy in place of the "Good Morning Baltimore (Reprise)".

[Kad]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 12:47pm

Well, the advantage here is that the original composing team is on-hand to write any new song. Not someone decades removed and ill-equipped for the style.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 12:47pm

The "new" songs being considered are the more than a handful of trunk songs that were written for the musical but never used.  These songs can be heard on the 2-disc Deluxe Soundtrack for the film version of HAIRSPRAY.   

[Valentina3]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 1:13pm

Liza's Headband said: "Um, I think we all called it when we saw the how brilliantly executed the GREASE Live broadcast was... "

 

yea yea, that's what I meant. #WEcalledit

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 1:18pm

Speaking of Carly Rae Jepsen, she'd make a great Penny. 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 1:38pm

Never let that girl near another musical ever again! She's a horrendous wreck!

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 1:39pm

Her recent album was actually one of the best of last year. Certainly not a horrendous wreck. 

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 2:05pm

Agreed, re: Carly Rae as Penny. Her brilliant acting and dancing outweighs her "non Broadway" voice - adored her as Ella and Frenchy. Would love to see her take on "Little Shop of Horrors", too.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 3:17pm

Carly Rae Jepsen is a horrible actress but she is surprisingly charismatic and cute. Penny is not exactly Sally Bowles, she'd be fine and sweet in the part which is what the role calls for. I do wish they cast this with an ensemble of true comedic actors all around: Jane Krakowski, Martin Short, Max Greenfield, Jackie Hoffman, etc.

[Homedecor22]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 3:18pm

IdinaBellFoster said: "I assume they'll use "The New Girl In Town" and cut "Cooties".

 

I could also see them writing a new ballad for Tracy in place of the "Good Morning Baltimore (Reprise)".

 

"I think they could cut it takes two and replace it with ladies choice I can't for December  7th I am so excited for it

 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 3:35pm

Yeah, they probably just want a little more musical padding to reach the 3 hour run-time. I trust this team. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 3:46pm

The broadcast may be 3 hours but there are commercial breaks which brings the actual program airtime to roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes for a 3 hour broadcast. 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 4:00pm

Then they shouldn't need to add too much :)

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 4:50pm

I really hope they don't "pad" it I felt that was the biggest issue with PETER PAN, they added so much nothing and it dragged on and on.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 4:56pm

I agree about not padding the show too much. The current licensed production and even the movie are appropriate length. I was bored at some points during Grease Live because I felt like they were wasting time by showing characters without advancing the plot at all.

 

Matthew Morrison has apparently expressed interest in playing Corny Collins.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 5:00pm

Mr. Nowack said: "I really hope they don't "pad" it I felt that was the biggest issue with PETER PAN, they added so much nothing and it dragged on and on.

 

"

 

Assuming the broadcast is still three hours, and I have no reason to expect otherwise, they would still need to "pad" it to some extent so that they had at least 2 hours and 10 minutes of material.

Part of the problem with doing shorter musicals, like GREASE and PETER PAN, is that it then requires wonky padding and uneven additions. What is the typical running time of HAIRSPRAY on stage? 

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 5:07pm

They also have to consider the fact that on stage there's built-in pauses for applause and/or set changes that affect the running time of the stage show but that do not factor into a broadcast like this.

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 5:51pm

Somebody said they thought they should cut Cooties, but I don't understand why that would make sense. Unless they're replacing it with another song for Amber. A song needs to be there.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 6:09pm

Re: Cooties.

HAIRSPRAY has worked quite well without "Cooties" - the 90 minute Las Vegas / casino version, the NETworks international tour, and the Hollywood Bowl concert ALL worked perfectly fine having Tracy burst in just as Corny begins to introduce Amber. 

I enjoy the number. It serves a specific purpose. Does lacking that number leave a void in the plot? None at all.

[SnoopyQc]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 6:36pm

I can see a new short song for Prudy Pingleton (especially if they cast Jackie Hoffman). That could be fun. Beside that, I don't think that the others characters need new song neither for the story or the character development.

Updated On: 4/26/16 at 06:36 PM

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 8:10pm

I'm a little sad they are doing this in LA instead of NY for the first time.....I liked recognizing so many NY actors/singers/dancers in the production..

However, if they have a better facility which allows for perhaps an audience or better able to make it feel actually LIVE...well then I can get over my disappointment.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/16 at 9:21pm

Like FOX did with GREASE: Live!, NBC will be broadcasting HAIRSPRAY: Live! from Universal Studios so they'll be incorporating outdoor and soundstage locations unlike their past broadcasts which were all done  from one single indoor soundstage.  This time around, they'll be incorporating the audience as extras in scenes unlike GREASE: Live! which used the audience as spectators in certain scenes. 

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/27/16 at 9:08am

ray---I love your casting ideas. Would Jane Krakowski be available for Velma? If so that's a slam-dunk. Whomever they cast shouldn't skew too old next to Jennifer Hudson who is young for Mabel. An older Velma would just emphasize her age. Krakowski would be a great fit. And Martin Short with Harvey would be a hoot.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/27/16 at 9:36am

Thank you, Besty! Krakowski's schedule is a lot more flexible now that she is on UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT (if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it, Krakowski is one of the great masters of spinning a line or even a word into comedy gold), which runs on Netflix and produces a lot less episodes than 30 ROCK. I know she tried to become involved in a show a handful of times during the 30 ROCK years but the irregular and long shooting schedule simply didn't make it feasible. They also announced recently that due to Ellie Kemper's pregnancy (the lead of the show), production for season 3 will be delayed. So that leaves Krakowski with an unexpected opening in her schedule. SHE LOVES ME runs through July, and they would probably start rehearsals for this around August, right? In terms of scheduling, I imagine she'd be available. It's hard to think of someone better suited for the role. She's also worked with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, they re-wrote the lyrics to "Zip" for her cabaret act a few years ago, she was a hoot performing it and I believe they would write new lyrics for her every day to reflect current events--she would read the lyrics off of her iPhone, it was great.