Despite Some Flubs, “Hairspray Live!” Couldn’t Stop the Beat

e_hairspraylive_120816

L-R: Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad and Martin Short as Wilbur Turnblad in “Hairspray Live!”; Colleen Hayes/NBC(NEW YORK) — Hairspray Live! the three-hour musical adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical Hairspray, about a girl who finds overnight success in 1962 Baltimore, aired Wednesday night on NBC.  And the production managed to delight, despite a few flubs, and one stumble.

Overall, the show went off without a hitch, save for some microphone and lighting glitches. Pop star Ariana Grande also tripped during the number, “I Can Hear the Bells” — although if you blinked, you might have missed it.

The show also starred Dancing with the Stars pro Derek Hough, Broadway vets, Harvey Fierstein, Andrea Martin and Kristin Chenoweth, Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson, Martin Short, Sean Hayes, Billy on the Street’s Billy Eichner, and newcomer Maddie Baillio, as Tracy Turnblad. It also utilized the live audience as the audience for the play’s fictional Corny Collins Show, as well as the finale, which featured the cast taking their bows to Grande and Hudson dueting on “Come So Far (Got So Far to Go).”

The production also featured surprise cameos from former Tracy Turnblads Rikki Lake and Marissa Winokur, as Mr. Pinky’s assistants, as well as the original “Dynamites.”

As with previous live TV adaptations, fans expecting a live version of either the 1988 John Waters film or the 2007 reboot were probably a little lost, since this one stayed truer to the Broadway play. The show also didn’t shy away from drawing parallels between the 60s civil rights movement and current tensions.

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.