SING ALONG

NBC hopes to hit another high note with ‘Hairspray Live!’ musical

he liv t l vision musical as volv d into a bicoastal nt rpris . W at start d out wit 2013’s “The Sound of Music Live!” in a low r Broadway r arsal spac in N w York as volv d into a full-blown production on t Univ rsal Studios backlot in California for “Hairspray Live!” T r , production d sign rs av r cr at d a Baltimor str t as it mig t av look d in 1962, and t s ow’s produc rs will tak full advantag of t balmy D c mb r w at r (staging 40 p rc nt of t production outdoors).

Many of t backlot stor fronts ar nam d for p opl involv d wit t production. Gr nblatt’s Crabs is a nod to NBC nt rtainm nt c airman Rob rt Gr nblatt, w o gr nlit t four liv musicals (t y also includ “Peter Pan Live!” and “The Wiz Live!”) w ’v s n so far. M ron’s Us d Cars is nam d for co- x cutiv produc r N il M ron. But t most m aningful stor front b longs to Divin P t Food, wit t cut-out of a pink flamingo p rc d on t awning.

It was f mal imp rsonator and notorious “Pink Flamingo” star Divin , of cours , w o play d ous wif edna Turnblad in t v ry first “hairspray,” t subv rsiv ly campy 1988 Jo n Wat rs film t at told t story of ow an outsid r nam d Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lak ) int grat s an “American Bandstand”- styl s ow call d “T Corny Collins S ow.” Costum d lik a cross b tw n Toti Fi lds and Dam edna ev rag , Divin ’s spiritual son, harv y Fi rst in, plays edna on “hairspray Liv !” w ic pr s rv s is 2003 Tony-winning p rformanc in t Broadway musical bas d on t Wat rs film.

“harv y’s p rformanc d mand d to b pr s rv d,” says M ron. “h was so brilliant. W ’r so glad to b abl to do t is for im.”

Nativ N w York r Fi rst in is surround d by tal nt cull d from t Broadway stag (Kristin C now t ), t pop music c arts (Ariana Grand ), as w ll as t TV s ows “American Idol” (J nnif r hudson) and “Dancing With the Stars” (D r k houg ).

For C now t , w o plays V lma von Tussl , mot r of t nag d TV star Amb r von Tussl (Dov Cam ron), working wit Fi rst in tak s r back to r v ry first days in N w York. “h said, ‘You av to sing wit m at t Gay M n’s C orus,’ ” s says. “T at was probably 20 y ars ago. I t ink w sang ‘Do You Lov M ?’ h was a godfat r to m and I’m just on of many.”

houg , w o plays Corny Collins, join d t cast aft r aring posi- tiv r ports about working on “Gr as Liv !” from is sist r, Juliann , w o play d Sandy. A danc r sinc ag 10, houg ad sp cial pan ls call d guss ts s wn into is suits to allow for gr at r mov m nt in t armpits and t crotc . h also ask d for a “w t danc tow l” to b k pt on t sid of t stag to damp n t sol s of is s o s. “I st p on t at tow l b for I go on stag . It giv s m gr at r traction,” says. educating t cast, most of w ic was born w ll aft r t racially c arg d 1960s, b cam t job of co-dir ctor K nny L on, w o dir ct d a production of “A Raisin in the Sun” for ABC in 2008. “As a company, w watc d a vid o about t at tim w r w it dancnc rs w r doing t Twist and t Watusi and t S o fly,” houg says. “And t y w r saying t y stol t m from black community, danc d t m on TV and got t cr dit for it.”

L on is s aring dir cting duti s wit Al x Rudzinski, w o won an emmy last y ar for lming “Gr as Liv !” for Fox. In addition to t backlot, “hairspray Liv !” is also using two soundstag s at Univ rsal, wit t principals g tting from on plac to anot r on golf carts.

In many ways, L on’s bigg st r sponsibility will b to guid n wcom r, Maddi Baillio, 20, w o won t part of Tracy Turnblad at an op n-call audition, t roug t s ow. “I try to giv r t confid nc and support,” says.

“S is going to kill it,” says C - now t . “h r voic is fantastic.”