10 Memorable Moments from 'Hairspray Live!' — Including Derek Hough's Dancing and Singing!

NBC's production aired live from Los Angeles on Dec. 7

Updated on December 8, 2016 10:15 AM

Hairspray Live! entertained TV audiences across America on Wednesday night, including celebrities Mark Ballas, Andy Cohen and many more.

The performance, which featured an A-list cast — Derek Hough, Ariana Grande, Kristin Chenoweth, Martin Short and Jennifer Hudson , to name a few — revived the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray in a live musical production from Los Angeles.

PEOPLE breaks down 10 memorable moments from the performance that we just couldn’t get enough of!

Derek Hough’s Dancing — and Singing!

Hough stepped into the shoes of TV host Corny Collins (a role originated by Clarke Thorell on Broadway and played by James Marsden in the 2007 film) for the live production, and showed off his triple-threat dancing, singing and acting skills for fans — and did it all in style! The Dancing with the Stars pro had numerous costume changes for the NBC taping, including pink, gold and purple suits.

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Hello Rosie O’Donnell!

O’Donnell, 54, made a guest appearance in the production as the gym teacher — complete with a wig and whistle. Although her part was short, the veteran actress made a memorable mark on the production. Andy Cohen shared his love and support of her guest part in the production and tweeted, “Oh hell yes @Rosie!!!!!! #HairsprayLive.”

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The Original Tracy Turnblad (a.k.a. Ricki Lake) Makes an Appearance

Hairspray Live saw the original Tracy Turnblad had a cameo in the live production: hello Ricki Lake! The former talk show host and actress previously told PEOPLE of being in the show, “I’m tickled! Whatever they ask me to do—I would sweep the floor if they wanted me to.” And she was tickled — tickled in pink! The actress, who at 18 years old won the starring role of the plus-size optimist in Waters’ cult film and inspired a young Jaret Winokur — who starred in the 2002 Broadway show — to go for a career in Hollywood, donned a pink costume in the performance.

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That First Kiss!

Tracy Turnblad — newcomer Maddie Baillio – the energetic optimist at the center of Hairspray, planted a wet one on Link Larkin (Garrett Clayton) during the performance — and it had our high school hearts swooning. During the kiss, Tracy couldn’t contain herself and pulled a surprised Link backwards as she locked lips with her swoon-worthy crush.

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That Second Kiss!

The cast couldn’t stop the beat, and they couldn’t stop the kissing either! Halfway through “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” Link turned the tables on Tracy — when he finally came to realize how wonderful she was — and took a chance (on live TV!) to kiss the leading lady, which had Corny Collins’ cast squealing and smiling from ear-to-ear out of excitement.

The Many, Many Wigs

In addition to singing and dancing on Wednesday’s live show, there was another thing fans couldn’t get enough of: wigs! Each of the female characters donned multiple wigs throughout the production. Varying from long and straight (Grande), blonde and short (Hudson and Chenoweth) to mid-length and curled (Baillio), there was lots of fake hair on the musical production.

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Triple Threat Ariana Grande

In addition to Hough, audiences also got to see Grande show off her triple threat skill set throughout the live musical. During the cast’s ensemble of “Without Love,” Grande belted out numerous high notes while on the bed with on-screen love Seaweed Stubbs (Ephraim Sykes) when he rescued her from being locked up in her room by her mother. And what better way to top off the song than with a passionate first kiss between the on-screen couple?

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Jennifer Hudson’s Monologue About Love

Not only did Hudson impress audiences with her acting and singing, but the actress inspired viewers with a monologue about love. After Seaweed rescued Ariana Grande (Penny Pingleton) from her home and took her to Motormouth Maybelle’s (Hudson) shop, she gave an inspiring speech about the couple’s choice to embrace their interracial relationship. Twitter took notice and praised the actress for her message of love.

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All of the Hairspray!

What would Hairspray be without actual hairspray? Hough and other leading members of the cast joined in for the “Hairspray” musical number towards the end of the show, during which they filled the studio with real hairspray from aerosol cans. We see you double-fisting those cans, Chenoweth!

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Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson’s Epic Duet

Hudson and Grande gave fans an epic duet to close out the show. As the cast members took their final bow, both professional singers showcased their strong vocals when they sang “Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)” to end NBC’s live musical performance. As they performed the final musical number — Hudson donned all gold and Ariana wore a short, green dress — the cast surrounded them in one final group dance.

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