After weeks of waiting, Seaweed and Little Inez have finally been announced for Hairspray Live! Broadway stars Ephraim Sykes and Shahadi Wright Joseph will be joining Jennifer Hudson.
#HairsprayLive has BIG news! @ephsykes and @ShahadiJo are joining the cast as Seaweed and Little Inez. ? pic.twitter.com/HeQzfIwqay
— Hairspray Live! (@HairsprayLive) September 7, 2016
Seaweed is a kind-hearted dancer who meets Tracy in detention and teaches her a few new moves. He is also the son of Motormouth Maybelle, played by Jennifer Hudson and falls in love with Penny Pingleton, played by Ariana Grande. Little Inez is Seaweed’s younger sister who auditions for the Corny Collins show, however, gets turned away as she is African-American.
Ephraim was in the 11 Tony Award winning musical sensation, ‘Hamilton’ in August 2015. He has also been in Broadway musicals such as; ‘Newsies’, ‘Memphis’, and ‘The Little Mermaid’. His television roles include; ‘Vinyl’, ‘Smash’, and comedy ’30 Rock’. He will also be starring in the upcoming Woody Allen series ‘Crisis in Six Scenes’.
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! I literally don't have the words…I've been wanting to share this news… https://t.co/51jhllxgyb
— Ephraim Sykes (@ephsykes) September 7, 2016
Shahadi is an American singer, actor and dancer. She made history at the age of 9 as the youngest actor to play Young Nala in Disney’s Broadway production of ‘The Lion King’. She started her career as a Fisher Price print model. In 2015, she joined the original Broadway production of ‘School of Rock’ playing the role of Madison and understudied the role of Tomika. Her performance in ‘School of Rock’ was recognised by Audelco Theatre Committee, earning her the 2016 Audelco Rising Star Award. Her experience with ‘School of Rock’ sparked up an interest in mentoring aspiring young actors by facilitating musical theatre workshops.
Exciting news to share. Ill be joining the cast of NBC's #HairsprayLive as Lil Inez @IAMJHUD @HairsprayLive pic.twitter.com/W6cqwT9FGT
— Shahadi (@Shahadi) September 7, 2016
Hairspray Live! is set to air Wednesday, December, 7.