Derek McLane, the Tony Award-winning Broadway set designer, has revealed his designs for the upcoming NBC-TV presentation of Hairspray Live! in the magazine Architectural Digest.
Set in early 1960’s Baltimore, Hairspray gave McLane a chance to recreate the looks of working-class homes and local TV shows of the period.
McLane, who has designed 36 Broadway show, including the recent Fully Committed, Noises Off, and the hit Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, told the magazine, “Hairspray was originally written with the actors on stage and the scenery coming to them,” he says. “We’re doing this more environmentally. The cameras are going to follow the actors to different places, so we have to keep the physical proximity of the different sets in mind.”
Tony Award-winning actor Kristin Chenoweth will be featured in the show as Velma Von Tussle, the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, among a cast that includes Harvey Fierstein, who will recreate his iconic, Tony Award-winning Broadway role as Edna Turnblad, Martin Short (Maya and Marty) as Wilbur Turnblad, Derek Hough as TV host Corny Collins, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (The Color Purple, Dreamgirls) as Motormouth Maybelle, and newcomer Maddie Baillio as Tracy Turnblad.
Live television director Alex Rudzinski (Grease Live!) will join director Kenny Leon (The Wiz Live!) to stage the broadcast. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (the upcoming A Few Good Men Live!) serve as executive producers of Hairspray Live! Fierstein will provide a new teleplay, and Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, On Your Feet!) will serve as choreographer for the live production with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Smash, Catch Me If You Can, and Broadway’s upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Bernard Telsey and Abbie Brady-Dalton of Telsey + Company oversaw the casting campaign.
(Updated November 8, 2016)
