Georgia Entertainment Scene
Atlanta's Kenny Leon to direct 'Hairspray Live!' on NBC
No Merchandising. Editorial Use Only. No Book Cover Usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock (1578829a) Hairspray, Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky Film and Television
Kenny Leon is going from “The Wiz” to “Hairspray.”
The Tony-winning Atlanta-based director, who shepherded “The Wiz Live!” to critical and commercial success for NBC in December, will return to live-theater-on-TV with “Hairspray Live!” on the network Dec. 7.
This will be NBC’s fourth live musical production (2014 brought “Peter Pan” and 2013 “The Sound of Music” to the masses).
Leon will spearhead “Hairspray Live!” with producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Hairspray” veterans choreographer Jerry Mitchell and script adaptor Harvey Fierstein – who won a Tony award playing Edna Turnblad in the Broadway musical – are also part of the upcoming TV version.
About the Author
Melissa Ruggieri has covered music and entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2010 and created the Atlanta Music Scene blog. She's kept vampire hours for more than two decades and remembers when MTV was awesome.
