Meet Edna and Wilbur, a model couple

They have played father and son, coach and trainer, tyrant and tyrant. Now David Anthony Brinkley and Jay Albright are taking it up a notch.

They will be husband and wife in "Hairspray," which opens this week at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Brinkley gets the skirt role of Edna, and Albright plays hubby Wilbur -- parents of precocious Tracy Turnblad, this musical's bubbly center of attention.

Based on the campy John Waters film, "Hairspray" turned into a Broadway hit full of knockoff 1960s tunes. Tracy (Therese Walth at Chanhassen) is a social outcast who allies herself with other misfits and triumphs through dance, song and integration. Winner of the 2003 Tony for best musical, "Hairspray" is a clarion call for getting along.

Harvey Fierstein portrayed Edna Turnblad on Broadway. Bruce Vilanch did a national tour that landed in Minneapolis several years ago and John Travolta put on the wig in a 2007 movie remake.

Decked out in fat suit and drag, each man played the role as a "star turn" -- essentially an opportunity to stop the show and do some shtick. Albright pulled off a similar gambit brilliantly as Moonface Mooney in "Anything Goes" at Chanhassen. So it would seem he's the perfect Edna, yes?

That's how Albright saw it, too, when he auditioned.

"I wore a dress and everything," he said. "It was pathetic."

Director Michael Brindisi liked what he saw, but felt Albright wasn't physically large enough for a role that was originated in Waters' film by the plus-sized drag queen Divine. On a break during auditions, Brindisi saw Brinkley sitting in one of the dinner theater's restaurants.

"I had this revelation," Brindisi said. "I walked over and said, 'You need to read for Edna.'"

Brinkley wore stockings and heels for the cross-dressing Roger de Bris in "The Producers." Edna is more grounded in reality -- if a man in a fat suit playing a woman is reality.

"I want to be this woman, not a hack up there in a dress saying funny lines," said Brinkley, without a hint of irony. "If we do this right, you should see this couple onstage and understand they love each other."

"But is it funny?" Albright asked.

"You're the funny one," Brinkley replied.

Old-timers

Albright and Brinkley have been mainstays at Chanhassen for two decades.

Brinkley generally has played leading men, when it's age-appropriate. Favorite roles include Abel Frake in "State Fair" and Julian Marsh in "42nd Street." He nearly spit out his lunch when Brindisi brought up Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady."

"I hated it," he said. "It was horrifying because on those songs, if you miss one lyric, it's impossible to get back on track. I lost 10 years off my life during that run."

Albright, soft-spoken and almost shy in real life, can take over a stage like few other comic performers. Max Bialystock in "The Producers" provided him a showcase, and there was his legendary turn in "Anything Goes."

Brinkley, though, said he felt Albright's best moments were quiet and sensitive. "In 'State Fair,' his last scene as the boyfriend was magic because it showed his vulnerability," Brinkley said. "It was an aspect of him I'd never seen."

The two actors recently completed a six-month run of "Jesus Christ Superstar," each playing despots of a different sort. Brinkley's Pontius Pilate was introspective and grave; Albright exhibited the vaudevillian flair of King Herod. Altogether, they've performed together in 24 shows at Chanhassen.

"I have all these Facebook friends from college who are surprised that I'm in musical theater," said Albright.

Brinkley, who appeared in "Scottsboro Boys" at the Guthrie Theater, intended as a young man to be a classical actor. That changed along the way and he has been at Chanhassen almost steadily since he first portrayed Capt. Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" in 1992.

"I've been watching the new kids, and they have great, amazing skills," Brinkley said. "They're just starting now and they have that fire. I feel so old when I see them, but it's their turn."

Well, he'd better find that fire. Because for the next six months, Brinkley will need to match Albright's energy in "Hairspray."