Rosie O’Donnell, Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth for live TV Hairspray remake
Rosie O’Donnell and Sean Hayes will join Kristin Chenoweth and Ariana Grande in the cast for Hairspray Live.
NBC is set to stage a star-studded production of the cult hit musical in December this year, and the cast is growing gayer by the minute.
As more of the castings are confirmed, it’s beginning to like the biggest-scale production since the tradition of annual TV musicals started in 2013.
It was confirmed today that Will and Grace legend Sean Hayes will appear as dress shop owner Mr Pinky, while Rosie O’Donnell is set to star as Tracy Turnblad’s sadistic Gym Teacher.
They join Kristin Chenoweth as the wicked Velma Von Tussle, Jennifer Hudson as R&B record producer Motormouth Maybelle, and Ariana Grande as Tracy’s best friend Penny Pingleton.
Newcomer Maddie Baillio will take the role of Tracy Turnblad, while Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein will cross-dress in the role of Edna Turnblad.
Rosie O’Donnell tweeted: “i am so excited to be a part of #hairspraylive on @NBC! can’t wait to bring it to life on december 7 !!!”
Sean Hayes added: “I am so excited to be a part of Hairspray Live on NBC! I can’t wait to bring it to life on Dec 7th.”
Fierstein recently joined Cyndi Lauper and the cast of their Broadway show Kinky Boots to film a pro-trans version of the musical’s song Just Be.
The new version, ‘Just Pee’, hits back at attacks from conservative anti-LGBT groups, who have attempted to roll back crucial LGBT rights protections across the US in order to ban transgender women from female toilets.
