Harvey Fierstein to Reprise Role as Hairspray's Turnblad in Vegas - February 2006

Today's New York Post reports that Harvey Fierstein has accepted an offer to rerprise his Tony-winning role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray when the show heads to Las Vegas. The paper notes that the star has signed for 12 weeks, beginning in February of 2006.

Harvey Fierstein, who currently stars in Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof won the 2003 Tony Award and shared the 2003 Drama Desk Award. During his illustrious career, which began in 1971 when he starred in Andy Warhol's only play, Pork, at the La Mama Experimental Theater Club, Fierstein has appeared in more than 60 Off Off-Broadway plays, writing and performing in many of his own productions.

His Torch Song Trilogy opened Off Off-Broadway in 1980, transferred to Off Broadway in 1981, and then moved to Broadway. For that show, Fierstein won two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, an Obie Award, and a Dramatists Guild Award. He won his third Tony Award for the book of La Cage aux Folles. For his performance as Edna Turnblad in the smash hit musical Hairspray, Fierstein received the 2003 Drama Desk Award (Best Actor in a Musical), Drama League Award (Outstanding Performance of the Year), and New York Magazine Award. He also received the 2003 Tony Award (Best Actor in a Musical), making him only the second person in history to win Tonys in four different categories.

Fierstein has appeared in 30 films, including Independence Day, Mrs. Doubtfire and Woody Allen's Bullets over Broadway. His TV appearances have included roles in Ellen, Common Ground (which he also co-wrote), and Cheers, for which he received an Emmy nomination. Fierstein also provided the voice of Homer Simpson's executive secretary on The Simpsons, and he is a regular commentator on PBS' In the Life. His children's book, The Sissy Duckling (Simon & Schuster), garnered an Ace Award.

Hairspray takes audiences to 1962 Baltimore, where 16-year old Tracy Turnbald, a big girl with a big heart and even bigger hair has only one passion, to dance. After winning a spot on the local TV dance program she becomes an irrepressible teen celebrity, but can a plus-size trendsetter vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of the boy she loves and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray!

Based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, the original two-hour and forty-minute production will be modified to run ninety minutes, without an intermission at Luxor Las Vegas. In addition to its eight Tony Awards, which include Best Book, Best Score and Best Director, among others, the musical won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album and five Outer Critics Circle Awards.

For more information on Hairspray, visit www.hairspraythemusical.com