The role of plus-sized Edna Turnblad has attracted many plus-sized talents, and another one is headed to the Twin Cities.
When high-energy musical "Hairspray" opens Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre, it'll feature Andrew Levitt as Edna, the overprotective mother of Tracy Turnblad, who campaigns to end segregation on a TV dance show in 1960s Baltimore. Slipping into the prosthetics and sequins should come naturally to Levitt since he is best known as drag queen Nina West, who was named "Miss Congeniality" on the 11th season of "RuPaul's Drag Race."
"I'm just a really big ol' man in a dress and I celebrate that," Levitt said in an introductory interview for "Drag Race." Although agitators are trying to stir up controversy around drag artists, Levitt follows in the footsteps of a bunch of other big old men who won acclaim in Edna's sensible flats. They include Harvey Fierstein, who earned a 2003 Tony Award for the original Broadway production of "Hairspray," and John Travolta, a 2008 Golden Globe nominee for the movie version.
Here's a look at a few of the actors who've slipped into Edna's housecoats, evening gowns and, in one case, fringe.
Divine, nonmusical 1988 film
No matter who plays Edna, they're working from a pattern established by this drag giant, for whom John Waters created the role. Most Ednas have fooled around with the idea that we're watching a man play a woman but Divine simply assumed we'd accept him as a woman — virtually all of his roles were female, many of them in Waters films such as "Polyester" and "Female Trouble." And, crass as Edna could be, Divine's humanity assured an I-am-what-I-am dignity that has stuck to her ever since.
Harvey Fierstein, Broadway, 2002-2004
Although he's primarily known for male roles (including in the film "Mrs. Doubtfire"), Fierstein began his career as a high school student playing drag roles in off-off-Broadway shows, as described in his autobiography "I Was Better Last Night." Fierstein's Edna was big and brassy but the highlight of his performance was the sweet "(You're) Timeless to Me" duet with husband Wilbur, in which Fierstein danced with elegance and finesse. The actor has returned to the role often, including in a TV version and an ill-fated Las Vegas production he laments in his book.
