'Dream' Contestant Ellis is Link in West End Hairspary

Although Lee Mead won the title role of London's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the UK reality talent search "Any Dream Will Do," third runner-up Ben Ellis will play Link in the upcoming West End transfer production of Hairspray, according to the Daily Mail.

"Ellis, from Scarborough, was one of four young actors whose video auditions for the part of handsome Link Larkin were sent to Hairspray's creative team in New York. Director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell viewed the video footage from London and were impressed with Ellis's good looks and dancing ability. The part was his, so for ever after he will be linked with Link," states the article.

As previously announced on Whatsonstage.com, Tracie Bennett (West End Les Miserables, High Society, "Coronation Street") is lined up to play the venomous Velma Von Tussle, with Michael Ball (Les Miserables, Passion, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Edna Turnblad, Mel Smith (High Heels and Low Lifes) as Wilbur Turnblad and newcomer LeAnne Jones as heroine Tracy Turnblad. The cast will also feature Rachel Wooding (We Will Rock You) as Amber Von Tussle, Paul Manuel (Grease) as Corny Collins, Adrian Hansel as Seaweed, and Johnnie Fiori as Motormouth Maybelle. 

The buoyant musical will begin previews on October 11th and open on October 30th at the Shaftesbury Theater.  In Hairspray, "it's 1962—the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion—to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show" and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a plus-size trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do?," as the show is described in press materials.

Hairspray is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, who serves as a creative consultant on the musical comedy.  New Line's film version of the musical, starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, is currently a box office hit.

Hairspray, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on Broadway in August 2006, is the winner of eight 2003 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor (Harvey Fierstein), Best Actress (Marisa Jaret Winokur), Best Featured Actor (Dick Latessa), Best Score (Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), Best Book (Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan), Best Director (Jack O'Brien), and Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long). Hairspray also swept every one of the year's best musical awards, winning, in addition to the Tony, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Drama League Award.

For more information about Hairspray, please visit the Hairspray website at www.hairsprayonbroadway.com.

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