Vogt and Burns are Bway Hairspray's New Edna & Wilbur

The producers of Hairspray, winner of eight 2003 Tony Awards including Best Musical, have announced that Paul Vogt and Jere Burns take over the roles of Edna and Wilbur Turnblad on Tuesday, January 30, at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre.

Vogt, who starred for several seasons on the hit television series "Mad TV," is making his Broadway debut in Hairspray. He most recently performed the role of Edna at the North Shore Music Theatre in Boston and replaced Harvey Fierstein in the Las Vegas production. Vogt starred in NBC's "The Rerun Show," in which he played another Edna—Mrs. Edna Garrett from "The Facts of Life." He made his opera debut in LA Opera's production of The Grand Duchess.  Vogt has also appeared in Garry Marshall's Happy Days: The Family Musical!.  He has just finished filming a role in the Jessica Simpson film Blonde Ambition, and has appeared in numerous regional productions, as well as on many TV shows.

Burns is best known to television audiences for his portrayal of Kirk Morris on the hit series, "Dear John." Burns was also a series regular on "Max Hedroom," "Bob," "The Mommies," "Something So Right," "Good Morning Miami" and "Help Me Help You." His most recent stage appearance was in Elaine May's After the Night and the Music at Manhattan Theater Club. His other stage credits include Moliere's Don Juan (New York Shakespeare Festival); Richard Foreman's Egyptology (Public); Steppenwolf's Obie Award-winning True West; and Gillette by William Hauptman, directed by Des McNuff.  He has been seen on numerous TV shows, as well.

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.

The show, 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.

Photo - Jere Burns