"Hairspray: The Musical" — the upbeat stage version of John Waters' 1988 film — is bringing more than bouffant hairdos and 1960s rock 'n' roll to Kingsbury Hall. It's also bringing two performers back to Utah.
One is Keala Settle, a former Southern Utah University student who plays feisty and "pleasantly plump" Tracy Turnblad, the show's central character.
The other is J.P. Dougherty, who played the villainous Thenardier during seven Salt Lake stops by the "Les Miserables" touring company between 1991 and 2002, who is now cast as Tracy's mother, the larger-than-life Edna Turnblad. ("I've switched from being the 'master of the house' to 'the mistress of the house,' " he says.)
Like Waters' movie, the stage versions (including the one that remains on Broadway) have Edna played by a cross-dressing male. Harvey Fierstein played Edna on Broadway, then had a brief run in the Las Vegas production. John Travolta is on tap to play the role in a new film based on the stage show.
"Hairspray" is set in 1962 in Baltimore, Md., where Tracy aspires to dance her way onto "The Corny Collins Show," a teenage TV production similar to "American Bandstand." She also hopes to win the crown of "Miss Teenage Hairspray," a nationwide contest sponsored by Ultra Clutch Hairspray.
In the process, Tracy stirs up racial issues around Baltimore — her best friend's mother disapproves of the "colored music" on the show, but as far as Edna is concerned, it's just black-and-white TV.
KEALA SETTLE grew up in Laie, Hawaii, where she attended Brigham Young University Hawaii. She also attended Southern Utah University in 1998, where she appeared as Sister Mary Robert Anne in "Nunsense" and Mama Rose in "Gypsy."
Growing up in Hawaii — her mother is from New Zealand and her father is from Great Britain — Settle danced on the canoes at the LDS Church's Polynesian Cultural Center when she was in high school, which she described as "a rite of passage."
Interviewed by phone during a "Hairspray" stop in Fort Worth, Texas, Settle said she originally auditioned for the show's singing group, The Dynamites, then was asked to sing Tracy's numbers. It was a typical Los Angeles "cattle-call" audition, drawing about 1,200 performers.
"I thought I would sing for five seconds and leave," she said, "then they asked me to sing some more. Three months later I got the job. I was first cast in the ensemble and understudied the role of Tracy, then the lead moved on to Broadway."
Settle said that her SUU experience was invaluable, once she got over the culture shock of going from balmy Hawaii to Utah snow. "We had casting directors and stage managers who were our professors during the year, then I got to work at the Utah Shakespearean Festival during that summer, learning how to build shows from bottom to top. It's very rare that you'll find an educational facility like that anywhere."
J. P. DOUGHERTY spent 12 years and four months touring with "Les Miserables," which must be something of a record for a business where some productions don't even last 12 weeks, much less 12 years.
Dougherty is a "road warrior" when it comes to touring, but he's noticed a big difference between just being in the ensemble and playing a lead role. "Now a car and driver come to pick me up and take me to the theater."
After playing the surly Thenardier in "Les Miz," he is finding that it's a bit more challenging to play a woman.
Dougherty was in the Broadway ensemble when Fierstein was starring, where he played four small roles and understudied several others, including both Edna and Wilbur Turnblad. Fierstein was "a marvelous teacher — just watching him play it. But I have been allowed to make Edna my own.
"I know where the laughs are supposed to be, but then — as an actor — I have to turn to my own sources. I could never be like Harvey, and I don't try. I bring my own gifts to the role."
Dougherty's Edna is a composite of some of the women in his life, including his mother, who is 85 and has "a very unique-sounding talking voice." He's also tapped into some of her friends and their mannerisms.
He's also borrowing some mannerisms from his sisters. "I get to mix it up a bit," he said. "But I'm not a drag queen. I'm just a guy playing a woman."
If you go
What: "Hairspray"
Where: Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah
When: Tuesday through May 14
How much: $30-$72.50
Phone: 581-7100
Web site: www.kingsburyhall.org
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com