I have some rather exciting personal news, i have been selected to play Edna Turnblad in the university production of Hairspray. While this news is hugely exciting, i do have some especially large shoes to fill, as this is a role that has been played by many legends, including, but not limited to, John Travolta and Harvey Fierstein.
John Travolta as Edna
The role was played by Divine in the original 1988 film directed by John Waters. The character is different from other interpretations of the role, and is, believe it or not, less camp than other iterations. Divine is a legend, and this in addition to being one of his final performances, was one of his best, and hugely influenced the other actors on this list. Divine's performance is what started the tradition of having each subsequent version of Edna played by a man in drag.
The second performer to take over the role was Harvey Fierstein, who was the original Edna on Broadway, and who won a Tony for his efforts. Vocally Fierstein is more gravelly than subsequent versions of the character, however he successfully took elements of Divines performance, especially his appearance, and then added other things, making the character more camp and lighter.
The third high profile performance, and the one most memorable to you readers was that of John Travolta in the 2007 film adaptation of the musical. Travolta's interpretation of the character was wildly different from either that came before it, and yet in a strange way it also pays homage to both the actors who came before him, the character is somehow even lighter than either Devine or Fierstein, and Edna is jolly, loving and full of life, she is somehow light, as if she imagines that she only weighs 40 kilos.
Divine as Edna
I have some pretty big shoes to fill, and each of these actors brought something different to the role of the voluptuous jolly Edna Turnblad.
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