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UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Feb. 18 (UPI) -- NBC said Thursday it has scheduled Hairspray Live to air Dec. 7. No casting has been revealed yet, but the network announced the program will be directed by Kenny Leon and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.
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Set in 1960s Baltimore, Hairspray follows the adventures of a bubbly teen who lives out her dream of appearing on an American Bandstand-style television show.
Hairspray originated as a non-musical movie, then became a hit Broadway musical and finally a blockbuster musical film.
"In keeping with our desire to bring the best of Broadway to our live musicals, we've assembled the Broadway dream team of Tony Award-winners for Hairspray Live," Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement.
"We're thrilled to have director Kenny Leon, who knocked The Wiz Live way out of the park, and Jerry Mitchell, the original choreographer of Hairspray and who is the director of two smash hit musicals running on Broadway right now," Greenblatt added. "We also have one of the most celebrated Broadway hyphenates, Harvey Fierstein, back writing the adaptation for TV. No one knows Hairspray better than him since he played the role of Edna Turnblad more than 1,000 times and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Along with our incredible producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and arguably the best songwriting team in musicals, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray Live is in the best possible hands."
