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.

Watch hairspray live full