Sean Hayes and Rosie O’Donnell are filling out the cast of NBC’s upcoming musical Hairspray Live, Variety reports. Craig Zadan, who is executive-producing with Neil Meron, announced the new cast additions Tuesday at a Hairspray Live panel at the Television Critics Association press tour. Hairspray Live is a television production of the Broadway musical based on John Waters’ 1988 film about a Baltimore teenager in 1962. (The musical was produced as a feature film in 2007.)
O’Donnell will play the gym teacher who torments protagonist Tracy Turnblad, who will be played in NBC’s version by Maddie Baillio. O’Donnell’s role was played by Kathleen Wallace in John Waters’ original film and by Jackie Hoffman on Broadway. Hayes will be playing Mr. Pinky, who runs a clothing boutique called Mr. Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway and hires Turnblad as a spokesmodel. Alan Wendl played Mr. Pinky in 1988, while Joel Vig played him on Broadway and Jerry Stiller took on the role in the 2007 film.
Hairspray Live, which will also feature Harvey Fierstein, Jennifer Hudson, Arianna Grande, Kristin Chenoweth, and Martin Short, is scheduled to air on Dec. 7. It will be filmed on the Universal backlot using both indoor sets and outdoor locations.
