Hairspray Live! will be arriving on December 7 on NBC as this holiday seasons live musical right in your home. With many questions being asked about who will be playing the key characters, one of those roles has finally been filled. Meet Maddie Baillio, a 20-year-old college sophomore from Texas. Baillio has kept the secret for two weeks that she has been cast as the musicals star, Tray Turnblad, after deciding at 3 a.m. the night before the audition, that she was in fact going to audition for the role.

Baillio told People Magazine, that she “fell in love with it, and I fell in love with Tracy,” as she recalls first watching the 2007 film adaptation when she was in elementary school. Like her, Tracy inspired many young girls since Hairsprays original conception in the 1988 film of the same name and then the 2002 Broadway productions opening.

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“It’s very relevant right now,” she says. “I think this is a good time for Hairspray to be a thing.” And we couldn’t agree with you more. With so much drama on social media and the struggles of the female image, it’s no shock that Hairspray could once again sweep in and give girls the confidence they need. Another relevant part of the film at this time is the race issue. With so much violence in media towards different types of individuals, what better way to attempt to bring peace back to that same media, but watching a little bit of Hairspray.

If your unfamiliar with the musical, Hairspray is set in 1962 and is about a young lady named Tracy Turnblad who lives happily in Baltimore. Tracy dreams of dancing on the local TV dance program and when she wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight. With her new found fame, Tracy launches a campaign to integrate the show,

With this happy news of a casting choice for Tracy, we can all wait impatiently for December 7, and watch the 2007 film adaptation again and again.

Are you excited to see Hairspray Live!? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo Credit: NBC/Universal