Hairspray Live! stage show but cut and only used in the film, was not added. (An instrumental version of the song is, however, heard very briefly as a bit of background music.) In addition to adapting the book, Fierstein reprised his performance of Edna Turnblad from the Broadway musical; Greenblatt felt that his performance of Edna was "iconic", and that his involvement with "Hairspray Live!" made it "come full circle". NBC cast the lead role of Tracy Turnblad through an open call in New York City, hoping to repeat the "phenomenal discovery" of Shanice Williams for "The Wiz". The role went to
Happy End (musical) is based on Damon Runyon's short story, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown". The musical premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on May 7, 1977, and closed on July 10, 1977, after 75 performances. Directed by Robert Kalfin and Patricia Birch and staged by Birch, the cast starred Christopher Lloyd, Grayson Hall and Meryl Streep. A 1984 production by Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage was televised as part of the short-lived "America's Musical Theater" series on PBS. The musical was produced at Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland in February 1995, using the English adaptation by Michael Feingold (as did