That’s not to say that Hairspray Live! was as flawless as Tracy’s Aqua-Netted coif. And vitally, all of this heavy, important stuff is dipped in a colorful, kitschy, salty-sweet coating and a wrapped in a package of catchy-as-hell songs from Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman’s 2002 Tony-winning Broadway show.
But her quest for fame and acceptance snowballs into a fight for representation of the marginalized – specifically, the primacy of women and the desegregation of African Americans on television – that feels acutely relevant in our in-progress political climate. So unlike, say, Peter Pan Live! or Grease Live!, there’s a very good reason for this to be Live! right exactly now.īased on John Waters’s 1988 cult classic, Hairspray follows the exploits of Tracy Turnblad, a wide-eyed teenager in 1962 Baltimore with dreams of landing a spot on a local TV dance show in the vein of American Bandstand. But rarely have they been socially relevant – and then came Hairspray Live! The movie-turned-stage musical-turned-movie musical (got all that?) has now become a television extravaganza under the auspices of NBC’s live song-and-dance format, and its message of inclusivity, equality and the fight for civil rights has taken on a freshly urgent tone in our current cultural moment. Network TV’s recent spate of live musicals have been many things, from buoyant and distracting to plodding and super awkward.
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