Maddie Baillio Latest News, Photos, and Videos

Maddie Baillio is on cloud nine when it comes to her role in NBC’s Hairspray Live!.

“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.

10 Fun Facts: Get to know Maddie more with these fun tidbits!

– Reporting by Nicole Pajer

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 haven’t already, be sure to also read our interviews with stars Garrett Clayton, Dove Cameron and Ariana Grande too!

Hairspray Live! airs Wednesday, December 7th @ 8PM ET/PT on NBC.


Click inside to learn 10 Facts about Maddie Baillio…

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!

You can listen to Maddie Baillio sing “Good Morning Baltimore,” Garrett Clayton croon on “It Takes Two,” Dove Cameron belt out “Cooties,” and more.

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! »

Check out these brand new rehearsal shots from the upcoming production of Hairspray Live!!

The behind-the-scenes pics feature stars Harvey Fierstein, Jennifer Hudson, Derek Hough, Martin Short, Garrett Clayton, Ephraim Sykes, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Maddie Baillio getting ready for the big show.

In case you didn’t already know, Hairspray Live! takes place in 1962 Baltimore and is based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.

Here’s the synopsis: Plump teenager Tracy Turnblad’s dream is to dance on “The Corny Collins Show,” a local TV program. When against all odds Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight and meets a colorful array of characters, including the resident dreamboat, Link; the ambitious mean girl, Amber; an African-American boy she meets in detention, Seaweed; and his mother, Motormouth Maybelle, the owner of a local record store.

Tracy’s mother is the indomitable Edna, and she eventually encourages Tracy on her campaign to integrate the all-white “Corny Collins Show.”

Mark your calendars – Hairspray Live! will air on Wednesday, December 7 @ 8PM ET/PT on NBC.

MUST-READ: Ariana Grande and Dove Cameron became instant BFFs on set!

ALSO MUST-READ: Garrett calls the level of talent “insane.”

More Here! »

Dove Cameron and Kristin Chenoweth are playing a mother-daughter duo for the second time in Hairspray Live! and they share a cute moment in the new promo for the NBC production!

The actresses previously starred together in Disney Channel’s Descendants.

MEET THE CAST: Find out who is playing who in Hairspray Live!

Some of the other new things that we get to see and hear in the promo include Derek Hough singing “Nicest Kids in Town” as Corny Collins and a preview of Jennifer Hudson and her amazing vocals.

We can hardly wait for the official premiere of Hairspray Live! and it looks like we’ll luckily be getting a sneak peek!

The stars of the show – Ariana Grande, Dove Cameron, Garrett Clayton, Jennifer Hudson, Ephraim Sykes, Derek Hough, Kristin Chenoweth, Maddie Baillio, Martin Short and Shahadi Wright Joseph – are set to perform in the Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Even though the cast is working hard, it looks like they’ve been having a blast getting ready for the show.

“fam fam fam fam fam,” newcomer Maddie wrote on her Instagram, along with a photo with Dove, Jennifer and some more of the cast.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade airs on November 24th at 9 AM while Hairspray Live! will officially premiere on December 7th at 8 PM on NBC!