Hairspray will launch a new North American tour in Fall 2021. Initial principal casting was announced today; the cast will be led by Andrew Levitt aka Nina West (from RuPaul’s Drag Race) as Edna Turnblad, Niki Metcalf as Tracy Turnblad and Toneisha Harris (Runner-up on NBC’s The Voice season 18) as Motormouth Maybelle. Additional casting will be announced later.
Rock, soul and R&B singer Toneisha Harris came in second behind Todd Tilghman on The Voice in the spring of 2020. She competed on Team Blake Shelton during a season that went completely remote for the live shows amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s happening and I couldn’t be more excited to hit the road with this amazing group of people…song to family,” Toneisha wrote on Twitter.
Toneisha, a 4 chair turn on The Voice, chose Team Blake
The 43 year old singer earned a 4 chair turn in the Blind Auditions with a passionate rendition of the rock classic “I Want To Know What Love Is” by Foreigner. She told a heart-rending story of planning to audition for The Voice season 2, before her son was diagnosed with Leukemia. He’s fine now. Although coach John Legend begged her to join his team, she surprisingly chose Team Blake. In the Playoffs, Blake chose to save Toneisha, And in the semifinals, the singer landed in the bottom 5, but won the Instant Save with a rendition of “Lovin’ You” by Minnie Riperton. But in the finals, fans voted her into second place.
Hairspray, which features a Tony-winning score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and a Tony-winning book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, is the story of teen Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. It’s based on the 1988 movie directed by John Waters. Tonisha’s character, Motormouth Maybelle, performs a show stopping number, “I Know Where I’ve Been.” American Idol alum and former The Voice coach, Jennifer Hudson played the role in NBC’s 2016 live production.
Hairspray opens in Yakima, Washington on Wednesday November 17
The new touring production, which will be helmed by Jack O’Brien and Jerry Mitchell, will hold technical rehearsals and opening performances at The Capitol Theatre in Yakima, WA (November 12-13, 2021) prior to the official tour opening night of Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at Broadway San Diego’s Civic Theatre (November 16-21, 2021). Hairspray will visit more than 60 cities in its first touring season and is expected to play across North America for multiple seasons. Learn more about the new touring production at www.hairspraytour.com.
