Hundreds of young hopefuls lined up for a shot at stardom Sunday...the chance to play Tracy Turnblad in the upcoming NBC production of Hairspray Live!
Sunshine Marie Smith claimed her spot in line at around 5 p.m. the night before. Although she got very little sleep, she was ready to belt out the opening number. "Good Morning Baltimore just like the other 800,000 of us," Smith said.
Actually it was more like 800 of them in a line that stretched down the street, around the corner, around another corner and up two more blocks.
These actresses don't just look the part. Many feel they are the part. "Tracy is an outgoing girl and I consider myself to be just as outgoing," said Autumn Jackson.
Casting Director Bernard Telsey says it's also a chance for girls who don't normally get seen for lead roles to shine. "You know there's not that many roles for, you know, plum girls and girls who can sing the hell out of a score and dance, and it's a really shot for somebody," he said.
The Sound of Music Live was the show that started this trend of producing live musicals on television. It was followed up by Peter Pan and then The Wiz. In fact Telsey found star Shanice Williams at the open call. "So it's gonna happen." he said. "And it's happened when we did the Hairspray Broadway. So it will happen again."
This is just the beginning of a very long process. It could actually take weeks for them to narrow the search down to that perfect Tracy, which could be Haley Miller of Racine Wisconsin. The musical theatre major got asked to come back the next day for a callback. So did Ilana Gould of Jacksonville Florida.
If you couldn't make it to the open call, the casting team is also accepting video submissions, so sing out Tracys. This is your chance to be seen.