New Casting and Cities Announced for Hairspray Tour
(© Jeremy Daniel)
Producers of the North American tour of Hairspray, which is now in its third year, have announced new casting and a long list of tour stops for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The tour will visit 45 cities including engagements in Calgary, Alberta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland; Dallas; Denver; Edmonton, Alberta; Houston; Nashville, Tennessee; Ottawa, Ontario; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The next stop is Ft. Myers, Florida (September 22-October 28). You can see a complete list of cities here.
The cast will be led by Greg Kalafatas as Edna Turnblad, Caroline Eiseman as Tracy Turnblad and Deidre Lang as Motormouth Maybelle. Joining them are Josiah Rogers as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Skyler Shields as Link Larkin, Ralph Prentice Daniel as Wilbur Turnblad, Andrew Scoggin as Corny Collins, Caroline Portner as Amber Von Tussle, Sarah Hayes as Velma Von Tussle, Scarlett Jacques as Penny Pingleton, and Kaila Symone Crowder as Little Inez. Micah Sauvageau is Male Authority Figure, and Emmanuelle Zeesman is Female Authority Figure.
The ensemble consists of Abigail Bensman, Connor Buonaccorsi, Ashia Collins, Joshua James Crawford, Scoob Decker, Craig First, Audrey Taylor Floyd, Gavin Guthrie, Alyssa Jacqueline, Leiah Lewis, Christy Oberndorf, Kynnedi Moryaé Porter, Caroline Purdy, Kalab Quinn, Josiah Thomas Randolph, Amy Rodriguez, Sage, Scott Silagy, Cara Torchia, Lilliannie Arie Urgent, and James Douglas Vinson.
Hairspray is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, who served as a creative consultant on the musical comedy. It features a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Hairspray features an original score by Academy Award-nominated Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
This touring production is helmed by original director Jack O’Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell. The tour director is Matt Lenz, with tour choreographer Robbie Roby. The creative team features set designer David Rockwell, lighting designer Kenneth Posner, tour lighting designer Paul Miller, costume designer William Ivey Long, and sound designer Shannon Slaton. Hair and wig design is by Paul Huntley, Richard Mawbey, and Bernie Ardia. Keith Thompson is the music supervisor.
