The title sums it up, that's all I'm wondering, though I suppose the answer is no doubt for the money making potential of saying 'hey come see Travolta play a singing fat chick' ....... But does any one know factual backstory to the part not being given to an actual overweight WOMAN?
shareThe part of Edna Turnblad was first played by drag performer Divine in the original 1988 Hairspray film (out of drag, Divine also played station owner Arvin Hodgepile in the movie). Divine was a friend of writer/director John Waters & starred in ten of his films; sadly, he died shortly after the release of Hairspray.
As a tribute to the original film, when the Hairspray stage musical was first produced for Broadway in 2002, it was decided that Edna would always be played by a man in drag. (The original Broadway actor ended up being Harvey Fierstein, who won a Tony award for the role.)
In order to help enforce this decision, the composers for the show wrote Edna's parts to suit a baritone singing voice, which very few women can hit. (Add in the weight requirement, the English language requirement, & the usual hope that the actor can actually act, and the number of women who could theoretically play Edna plummets even further.)
When the 2007 musical film was made, the director & producers continued the tradition.
Ahhh! Thank you for enlightening me! :~) I get it now!
The 2007 movie was the first 'Hairspray' I've seen so that was lost on me, lol
It's a bit like the tradition of having Peter Pan played by a woman, though I doubt Waters realized he was starting a tradition when he cast Divine in the role.
While I wasn't overly impressed by Travolta's performance here, I think it helps retain some of the comic strangeness of the original film, much of which is lost in the remake.
Then, according to the tradition, John Travolta is NOT a good pick, since they had to make him look fat. It should have been someone else in my opinion.
shareEdna has always been played by a man, Harvey Fierstein originated the role in the broadway production so just be glad it wasn't him in the movie
shareYeah, it's like how in Japanese theater that the male roles were played by women and how females were played by males.
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i never thought of the japanese theatre, i always thought it was a nod to pantomime where the dame is always a man
shareon broadway Peter Pan is always played by a woman.
sharenow peter pan is more likely to be played by boys i think but it used to be that the character was played by young women everywhere. this is about men playing women. women are more likely to get away with playing children but men who play women tend to be fairly obvious. for example in the musical matilda, a man plays miss trunchbull probably because they can't get so many women like the actress who played her in the film (pam ferris) but that just adds to the character being quite unbelievable
shareThe reason why Truchbull is played by a man is most likely because of the range the part is written in. Much the same as the Head Mistress in "Moby Dick" was written for a man (who also played Captain Ahab).
Let Zygons Be Zygons.
i forgot about the singing voice needed for such a character. i simply thought they needed someone who looked like a man and therefore they would get a man to play trunchbull. that makes sense
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OCOE - obsessive compulsive olive eater
Yes, let's be glad that the wonderful Tony Award winning Harvey Fierstein did not reprise the role. I would have preferred it. John Travolta looked about as uncomfortable as any actor could be in the hair, makeup and wardrobe. He may have been having a good time but you could not tell by looking at him. He seemed in pain in every shot.
"I say,open this door at once! We're British !"
I thought Travolta moved very well and looked very good. But I felt it was played down. The part originally was for a very tacky over weight lower class female (played by a man). Travola looked like an upper middle class pampered housewife and it still sounded like Danny Russo singing.
shareBecause John Travolta... rocks!
sharethis basically ruined travolta's career
sharePerhaps the same reason Buzz's girlfriend from Home Alone was apparently a boy in disguise!
It would be cruel and embarrassing to have an actual woman portray Edna's character lol