Principal Roles and Casts
Principal roles and casts of major productions of stage productions of Hairspray
| Character | Description | Original Broadway Actor/Actress | Notable Broadway Replacements | Original West End Actor/Actress | Notable West End Replacements | Original Australian Actor/Actress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracy Turnblad | A "pleasantly plump" teenager, who dreams of fame and fights to racially integrate The Corny Collins Show. | Marissa Jaret Winokur | Kathy Brier Carly Jibson Shannon Durig Marissa Perry |
Leanne Jones | Chloe Hart | Jaz Flowers (Kirby Lunn - Cover) |
| Edna Turnblad | Tracy's kind, plus-sized mother – a drag role. Edna runs a laundry business out of her home. | Harvey Fierstein | Michael McKean Bruce Vilanch John Pinette Blake Hammond Paul Vogt George Wendt |
Michael Ball | Brian Conley Phill Jupitus Michael Starke |
Trevor Ashley |
| Amber Von Tussle | Bratty, selfish resident princess of The Corny Collins Show, despite her lack of talent. She is willing to do anything to win the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant. | Laura Bell Bundy | Becky Gulsvig Haylie Duff Ashley Spencer Aubrey O'Day |
Rachael Wooding | Zoe Rainey Nicola Brazil |
Renee Armstrong |
| Velma Von Tussle | Amber's scheming mother and producer of The Corny Collins Show, who pushes her daughter to seek the stardom that she never had. | Linda Hart | Barbara Walsh Isabel Keating Michele Pawk Mary Birdsong Karen Mason |
Tracie Bennett | Liz Robertson Belinda Carlisle Siobhán McCarthy |
Marney McQueen |
| Penny Pingleton | Tracy's slightly dorky, devoted and perky best friend. | Kerry Butler | Jennifer Gambatese Diana DeGarmo Caissie Levy Alexa Vega |
Elinor Collett | Verity Rushworth | Esther Hannaford |
| Link Larkin | A teenage heartthrob and one of The Corny Collins Show Council Members, who falls in love with Tracy. | Matthew Morrison | Richard H. Blake Andrew Rannells Ashley Parker Angel Aaron Tveit |
Ben James-Ellis | Liam Tamne | Jack Chambers |
| Motormouth Maybelle | The owner of a downtown record shop and the host of "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, self-described as "big, blonde and beautiful". | Mary Bond Davis | Darlene Love Jenifer Lewis Charlotte Crossley |
Johnnie Fiori | Sandra Marvin Sharon D Clarke |
Cle Morgan |
| Seaweed J. Stubbs | A hip "Negro Day" dancer and the son of Motormouth Maybelle who falls in love with Penny. | Corey Reynolds | Chester Gregory II Tevin Campbell |
Adrian Hansel | Tevin Campbell | |
| Wilbur Turnblad | Tracy’s goofy father, who owns the Har-De-Har Hut joke shop and is still madly in love with his wife, Edna. He encourages Tracy to follow her dreams. | Dick Latessa | Jere Burns Jerry Mathers Jim J. Bullock Stephen DeRosa |
Mel Smith | Ian Talbot Nigel Planer Micky Dolenz |
Grant Piro |
| Corny Collins | The eccentric and cocky host of The Corny Collins Show. | Clarke Thorell | Lance Bass Jonathan Dokuchitz Blake Currie |
Paul Manuel | Gavin Alex | Scott Irwin |
| Little Inez | Seaweed's younger sister, who tries to audition for The Corny Collins Show but is turned away because she is black. | Danielle Eugenia Wilson | Naturi Naughton | Natalie Best | Raquel Jones | Nancy Denis |
| Female Authority Figure | The Matron guarding The Big Dollhouse; the Gym Teacher; and Prudy Pingleton, Penny's overprotective and often close-minded mother. | Jackie Hoffman | Julie Halston Susan Mosher |
Wendy Somerville | Jacqui Rae | |
| Male Authority Figure | Mr. Pinky, owner of Mr. Pinky's Hefty Hideaway who gives Tracy and Edna a makeover; Principal of Patterson Park High School; and Mr. Harriman F. Spritzer, the President of Ultra Clutch | Joel Vig |
Blake Hammond Jim J. Bullock Kevin Meaney |
Dermot Canavan | Garry Scale |
Read more about this topic: Hairspray (musical)
Famous quotes containing the words principal, roles and/or casts:
“Rather than have it the principal thing in my son’s mind, I would gladly have him think that the sun went round the earth, and that the stars were so many spangles set in the bright blue firmament.”
—Thomas Arnold (1795–1842)
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)
“Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)