We are totally loving every moment of Hairspray Live so far and we are so excited to watch Maddie Baillio become a star in this production!
The 20-year-old actress, who is making her professional debut in the show, opened the show with “Good Morning Baltimore” and even though there were some technical errors, she still rocked it. Several times throughout the performance, Maddie‘s mic went out and we couldn’t hear the lyrics.
In Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad is given a hard time about her weight when she goes in to audition to dance on the Corny Collins Show.
In real life, Maddie Baillio has experienced the same criticism, so she is especially proud to be playing the part in NBC’s upcoming Hairspray Live!.
“Tracy is always talked down by everyone but she doesn’t let anyone stop her from going after her dreams. And when she goes after her dreams she accomplishes them, and that was so cool,” Maddie told us. “I was bullied when I was younger so that really drilled into my brain that I shouldn’t be confident with my body and myself. I overcame that like a year ago. So it’s really cool to see a girl who doesn’t let anything stop her because that has stopped me in the past.”
In general, Maddie feels like Tinsel Town is starting to accept non-model type and is offering good roles to actors of size.
“I think so. I think Hollywood is getting a lot better. One of the songs in the show is ‘We’ve Come So Far’ but we’ve got so far to go,” she said. “We’ve got so far to go but I think people are becoming more aware of body positivity and everyone is becoming more accepting, which is awesome.”
Hairspray Live! airs on Wednesday, December 7 @ 8PM ET/PT on NBC.
“This is amazing. This is not a lie. This is 100 percent true,” Dove told co-star Harvey Fierstein in his “Fierstein chat.” “I had the poster of Hairspray right above my bed. And I had the biggest crush on Zac Efron, of course.”
Meanwhile, Maddie Baillio revealed who she used to have a big crush on too!
“I wake up every morning and can’t believe this is happening,” Maddie told us at a recent press junket. “Ariana Grande is playing my best friend!”
The student-turned-star is still trying to grasp what has happened to her this year. The role of Tracy Turnblad was the very first role that she auditioned for outside of productions at her school, Marymount Manhattan College.
“You’re not allowed to audition outside of school because they don’t want you to leave but sometimes you gotta break the rules. I’m so happy I did!” she said.
Maddie found out about the role after seeing an ad on Facebook for an open casting call. To prepare for the part, she prepared a short portion of “Good Morning Baltimore.”
Click inside to read more of our interview with Maddie…More Here! »
The big night is around the corner and Maddie Baillio could not be more excited. But Hairspray Live!‘s Tracy Turnblad is doing her best to shake off her nerves associated with the fact that she’ll soon be performing in front of her biggest audience yet.
“My wig fell off one time during rehearsal. Hopefully that doesn’t happen the night of,” she told JJJ.
But if it does, the show must go on. “I should probably come up with a quick one-liner if that happens. I gotta pin it into my brain,” she added.
Her character’s hairpiece is heavy but fortunately she is able to tune it out when the stage lights turn on. “When I’m not in character I’m not thinking about it,” Maddie said.
She is, however, thinking about is her many romantic scenes that she’ll have to act out on stage. “I have four kissing scenes with Garrett Clayton, which is a lot!” she said. “I think in the 2007 movie there is just one. Oh yeah. Thumbs up. We’re going all for it.”
Hairspray Live! airs on Wednesday, December 7 @ 8PM ET/PT on NBC.
We only have three days left until the premiere of Hairspray Live! and JJJ can hardly wait!
Newcomer Maddie Baillio will star as Tracy Turnblad in the special and JJJ is super in love with her and we want you to know all you can about her — because she’s going to blow you away!
If you’re like us, you are probably counting down the days until December 7 for the debut of Hairspray Live! on NBC. Well, we’ve been given an amazing treat as the soundtrack is out now!
Ariana Grande gets to sing one of the songs written for the movie version called “Come So Far,” which is now a duet with Jennifer Hudson for the finale of the musical.
You can download the soundtrack on iTunes and Amazon and stream it below via Spotify!
Click inside now to listen to the Apple Music stream…More Here! »