Hairspray

Hairspray, a musical set in Baltimore and based on a bit of the city's history, had a special meaning for local audiences when it launched its national tour here in 2003. Theatergoers have another chance to see it through Jan. 1 at the Hippodrome. Based upon John Waters' 1988 movie, the Broadway musical follows the adventures of a Baltimore teenager, the spunky, overweight Tracy Turnblad, in the 1960s. Tracy's efforts to win a place on a TV dance party, the Corny Collins Show, bring her into contact with the dreamy Link Larkin.

If Hairspray the musical is a success, it is because every single person in the audience, even the beauty queens, can remember a moment when they have felt like its heroine, Tracy Turnblad: Fat. Loud. Fatally frowsy. At a cast party held Wednesday after the opening night performance, members of the production took a moment to ponder how the musical reflects their own lives. The party itself remained true to its Charm City roots and the musical's spirit. Technically, it was by invitation only.

NEW YORK - Welcome to Broadway, Hon. Baltimore came to the Big Apple in a big way last night with the premiere of Hairspray, John Waters' affectionate, $10.5 million tribute to his hometown. Although other shows set in Charm City have played here (Kiss Me Kate comes to mind), none of them celebrates Bawlamer to the degree that Hairspray does. As a result, the Baltimoreans in the audience (not to mention the show's creators, investors and cast) were wondering how well those two wildly different cultures would mix. The musical is even playing in a theater named after that quintessential New Yorker, Neil Simon.

NEW YORK - There was enough excitement in the air to curl your hair at New York's Westbeth Theatre Center last Friday when two readings were presented of Hairspray, the forthcoming Broadway musical based on John Waters' 1988 movie about teased-hair teens in 1960s Baltimore. An invited audience of more than 300 investors, potential investors, theater professionals and friends attended separate readings in the morning and afternoon. (The afternoon crowd included Bette Midler.) Many of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's 18 songs, which range stylistically from doo-wop to soul, elicited applause and at times even hoots and whistles of approval.

Elly Jackson doesn't just channel hits from the '80s — she also has the hair. The 22-year-old lead singer of British electro-pop duo La Roux has one serious 'do. It's a quasi-quiff, a tidal wave of red hair that stands at rigid attention several inches above her scalp. More impressive still: It stays that way, even in the middle of a show. The La Roux 'do (it doesn't have an official name) will be on full display at Rams Head Live on Wednesday, when Jackson rolls through hits such as "Bulletproof," "In for the Kill" and "Quicksand."

First there was Divine - the larger-than-life, cross-dressing star who created the role of Bawlamer matriarch Edna Turnblad in John Waters' 1988 movie Hairspray. Then Harvey Fierstein donned Edna's wig in the hit Broadway musical version. Now there's word that Bruce Vilanch is the front-runner to walk in Edna's high heels in the touring production. Margo Lion, the musical's Baltimore-born producer, said earlier this week that she and the show's co-producers are "in discussions" with Vilanch, although no contract has been signed.

Baltimore theatergoers can start making their hair appointments now. Although no contract has been signed, Hairspray, the coming Broadway musical based on John Waters' 1988 movie, plans to launch its national tour at the Mechanic Theatre in September 2003. "All the scary optimism lately is making me nervous, but I can't think of a better place in the whole world for it to start," Waters said this week. In other news about the musical, the cast album already has been recorded, and it includes a new song, "(The Legend of)

Oscar-nominated actor John Travolta will sit down for a public conversation with John Waters at Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art . The man who created Edna Turnblad and the actor who brought the zaftig housewife of "Hairspray" to full-throated life on the big screen will be appearing together in Baltimore next month. Oscar-nominated actor John Travolta, whose film roles have included star turns in "Saturday Night Fever," "Grease," "Pulp Fiction" and the musical version of "Hairspray," will sit down for a public conversation with John Waters, the unregenerate bad-boy director responsible for "Hairspray" in the first place.

He's the clown prince of bad taste, and Broadway is about the last place you'd expect to find him. Yet movie director John Waters is proudly proclaiming: "Broadway, here I come!" Waters' "Hairspray" is about to become a mainstream musical. A Sixties-era comedy about teen-agers vying to star on a Baltimore TV dance show, "Hairspray" (1988) will be produced by Margo Lion, a Baltimore native, as is Waters. Lion's Broadway credits include "Jelly's Last Jam," "Angels in America" and "Triumph of Love."

Long to show off your beehive hairdo to millions? Think your mastery of '60s-era dance steps is second to none? Brothers and sisters, your chance to shine is coming to town. Auditions for parts in the big-screen version of Hairspray, the musical, have been set for noon April 1 at The Hippodrome, 12 N. Eutaw St. And this isn't just another search for background extras and other small to barely there parts. Auditions are planned for three major characters, including the central character herself.