Nina West to Star in New National Tour of Hairspray
(© Jeremy Daniel)
RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Andrew Levitt — better known as drag queen Nina West — will head the cast of a new North American tour of Hairspray, kicking off at the Capitol Theatre in Washington, November 12-13, before its official opening run at Broadway San Diego's Civic Theatre, November 16-21.
Levitt will play Edna Turnblad, alongside newcomer Niki Metcalf as Tracy Turnblad and Toneisha Harris as Motormouth Maybelle. The production features the original direction and choreography of Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell, with Matt Lenz and Michelle Lynch serving as tour director and choreographer. Further casting is still to be announced.
The Tony-winning musical is based on the film by John Waters, and features a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. The tour has sets by David Rockwell, lighting by Paul Miller (based on the original by Kenneth Posner), costumes by William Ivey Long, hair and wigs by Paul Huntley and Richard Mawbey, sound by Andrew Keister (based on the original by Steve Kennedy), and music supervision by Lon Hoyt.
The national tour of Hairspray will visit more than 60 cities during its first touring season and is presented by NETworks Presentations.
