Hi, my name is Nikki Metcalf,
and I'm going to be playing Tracy Turnblad on the national tour of Hairspray.
Hi, I'm Andrew Levitt, also known as Nina West.
And I'm going to be playing
Edna Turnblad in the national touring production of Hairspray, the musical.
Hi, I'm Toneisha Harris, and I have the pleasure
of playing the role of Motormouth Maybelle in the national tour of Hairspray.
I saw the original Broadway production,
and it was incredible to see it was the first time that I could see
someone who looked like me, like
doing what I have always wanted to do.
I first heard about Hairspray, the musical, many, many years ago,
and I remember watching the play as well as the movie and thinking,
wow, it would be amazing to be part of such a great cast.
I came to New York.
I was a server and I saved all my money from serving tables.
And I bought a ticket for a preview show three days before opening.
I'll never forget going to the show.
Seeing Harvey in person was a really big deal.
Grateful to just have been introduced to it for so long.
It changed my whole drag career. That show changed my whole drag career.
One of the things about the show that really stuck with me
for the first time is the message, not only this evolution
that happens with the characters, but also the message that it stands for
kind of justice and coming together and unifying the city regardless of color,
just kind of unifying the people and reminding everyone
we're better together, which is definitely a message that I today
try to stand behind and I'm pretty proud to be able to represent that.
I think it's Tracy's unapologetic way of just being herself.
She is who she is. She is confident in that.
And she is ready to show the world exactly who she is.
And I think I look up a lot to that, that you don't have to change yourself
to be loved, to be deserving of love and following your dreams.
I remember seeing the show that was really uplifting.
It was by queer people celebrating stories and celebrating black voices,
celebrating queer voices, celebrating drag in a really subversive way.
You know, it was all very powerful
and camp and fun, like, you know, all these really, really layered messages.
There was also so much fun.
I believe that Hairspray is very important
and relevant now because our nation really is so divided.
There's a lot of issues that were addressed in that play
that really ring true today with what we need.
We need to be reminded that we're better together.
We need to be reminded that we need each other.
And regardless of your race, your religion, your sexual orientation,
we all belong here.
And I think that that's really what rings true today And our individuality
and who we are, you know, should be celebrated.
It shouldn't separate us.
It should bring us together and make us stronger.
Yeah, absolutely. And it's kind of when Hairspray first
opened on Broadway, it was right after 9/11.
And it was a show that was that
brought joy to people and allowed them to be reminded that we could laugh again.
Yeah, they could sing together and dance together again.
I think that's also really relevant right now, too, after COVID
with our country being so divided and having this opportunity to be reminded
that we do need to come together before we celebrate.
I think it's very powerful.
I mean, I am I am really
overwhelmed by filling these heels.
I'm not going to lie to you at all when I think about, first of all, Divine.
I think about Harvey Firestein, who are two icons in the LGBTQIA+ community
and the theatrical community and the drag community.
I am very overwhelmed.
So I'm just like hopeful that people will go with my iteration.
Yeah. Bringing yourself bringing myself to the role.
Yeah, exactly. I mean, it is all of these roles are iconic.
Yeah. Tracy is iconic.
It's incredible to finally be playing a role that feels so,
you know, true to who I am.
Like I want to be who I am and do what I love.
And no one's going to stop me because I feel so much of Tracy's heart and me.
I'm hoping that'll reflect in the performance.
Oh, it will. It most certainly will.
You are definitely Tracy, for sure.
It's the same for me.
I think of people like Queen
Latifah and Jennifer Lewis and to be able to fill those roles.
They're such icons to me.
And now I get I get a turn.
And I hope that someday
someone that follows in my footsteps
is going to be able to say the same thing about me.
One of the things that I think I am looking forward to is being able to break
bread with people. Cause when you do that...
I mean, I didn't want to just say the food, but the experience of the
experience of that, too,
because, you know, when you break bread, you kind of really do become family.
That creates a completely different kind of bond.
And so I'm excited about that.
Sharing memories, but also creating new ones on the road to is going to be fun.
We're going to be in such an intimate space together.
So we get to know about each other.
We get to see each other on our good days, on our not so good days.
Also, you know, watching the people buy
into our characters is going to be so great.
Somebody is going to live through Tracy.
Somebody is going to live through Maybelle.
Somebody is going to live through Edna and be able to relate to that.
So being able to create that
kind of energy for people, I'm really, really looking forward to that. Yeah.
After this year of, you know, not having as much theater,
especially live theater, to be coming back and sharing that with audiences
across America who might not necessarily be able to get to New York City
when it opens again, you know, being able
to share the story and meet all different kinds of people on the way,
it's going to be such an incredible and special experience.
I'm excited, too. I mean, I'm excited for the food. Yeah.
But I think I'm excited to
actually go on the road with this show, with these people.
I mean, there's a whole other
there's a whole other group of people we haven't even met yet.
Yeah. Like that's also super exciting.
I'm excited to get to know all of these people from all of these
diverse backgrounds and stories and experiences.
And they're going to challenge each of us every single night to be at our best.
That's super exciting. Thank you so much for watching.
Thank you, Playbill, for having us.
And you can catch the national tour of Hairspray in a city near you.