VIDEO: Harvey Fierstein Talks HAIRSPRAY LIVE! on 'Theater Talk'

By: Nov. 22, 2016
HAIRSPRAY LIVE! on NBC
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November 25 - December 1 on Thirteen/WNET, WLIW/21, CUNY TV & NYCLife/25 Favorite guest Harvey Fierstein returns to THEATER TALK to bring co-hosts Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins up to speed about HAIRSPRAY LIVE - the upcoming TV version of the beloved Broadway musical (fashioned out of John Waters' original film) in which Fierstein starred for two years as Edna Turnblad - and won a Tony® Award for his performance.

Fierstein confides that he was not the first choice for the upcoming NBC production, due for national broadcast on Wednesday, December 7 - confessing that his only other live performance of a song for a TV audience to date was on THE TODAY SHOW during the Broadway run of Hairspray. He shares anecdotes about the harrowing workshop and backers' auditions of the show and remembers the thrilling first preview of the stage show in Seattle during its pre-Broadway tryout.

Harvey also shares tales from some other projects he worked on, including the legendary preview period of Legs Diamond (for which he wrote the libretto) and working on the hit musical version of La Cage aux Folles with Arthur Laurents and Jerry Herman.

The Hairspray Live! episode of THEATER TALK premieres Friday 11/25 on PBS station Thirteen/WNET at 1:30 AM (Saturday morning) and repeats there on Sunday 11/27 at 11:30 AM; it reairs on CUNY TV* Saturday, 11/26 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 11/27 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 11/28 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; and also airs on WLIW/21 on Monday 11/28 at 5:30 PM and on NYCLife/25 on Thursday 12/1 at 11 PM.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of THEATER TALK.



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