Random thoughts on Hairspray Live:

• I have never seen the show or the movies – only listened to the music — so it was cool to actually see a production
• The interludes and commercials are annoying, but I imagine if they went without them, the complaint would be that the production wasn’t glitzy enough (or that stars wouldn’t do it because the money isn’t there with fewer ads)
• I think they only cast Ariana Grande so they could put her in that outfit at the end. She was great, but that was just too on point
• Ephraim Sykes is amazing. That’s how deep the Hamilton bench is. He was an ensemble member.
• I kinda liked the period “commercials” for the sponsors.
• There will always be some sort of in-authenticity from these productions. There’s just too much difference between TV and a live show. And they are doing a one-off of something that is usually done multiple times by a cast. But I personally will trade that for seeing the never-ending smile of Maddie Baillio, who won the role of Tracy in an open casting call she saw on Facebook. She was just absolutely giddy the entire show. That was pretty awesome to watch.