John Waters News

As I settled into my seat at Proctors to watch the new touring production of HAIRSPRAY, I wasn’t expecting anything particularly revolutionary. Instead, I was met with a production that embodies the show’s themes of love and solidarity so effectively that I’m convinced this show is more timely now than it was when it was conceived two decades ago.

Hairspray will bring its tour to Proctors next month. This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play Tuesday, December 6 - Sunday, December 11 in Schenectady at Proctors.

When it opened on Broadway in 2002, HAIRSPRAY won an extraordinary eight Tony awards. Its popularity has never waned and the tour will visit The Playhouse on December 1-4.

Based on John Waters' 1988 cult film of the same name, Hairspray takes place in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962. The story centers on a plump teenage girl named Tracy Turnblad, whose lifelong dream is to dance on the local TV dance program known as The Corny Collins Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show and becomes an overnight sensation, she launches a campaign to integrate the show.

An all-star ensemble with Ryan Bintz soaring to the top as the evil Black Stache!

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, will go on sale Friday, November 18 at 10am. This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play April 11 - 16, 2023 in Salt Lake City at the Eccles Theater. 

Director John Waters will return to Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut next fall to host his 6th Annual Camp John Waters weekend. This once-in-a-lifetime sleepaway-camp experience for his super fans will take place September 8th - 11th. The 300-acre adult summer camp will be transformed into a cinephile's dreamland for this exclusive weekend unlike any other.

The audience was thrilled to welcome home Columbus’s own sextuple superstar, Andrew Levitt aka Nina West, who has successfully conquered the entertainment genres of TV, film, theatre, music, web series, and most recently as an author of children’s book, “The You Kind of Kind.”  His role as Edna Turnblad is just icing on the cake.

DJ Dank invites you to COCKETTES: ETERNAL EMISSIONS. Take a trip back to the heyday of the Cockettes in this colorful multi-media musical revue- featuring musical numbers made famous by the Cockettes with members of the original Cockettes in person! Video testimonies and archival footage round out the revue. Produced by Dan Karkoska. Musical Direction by original Cockette - Scrumbly Koldewyn.

You Can't Stop the Beat! The Grand is proud to present the Wilmington engagement of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon HAIRSPRAY at the historic Playhouse on Rodney Square from December 1 to December 4.

DFW-native Major Attaway, best known as Broadway's longest running Genie in Disney's Aladdin (2017-2020), is returning to Texas to direct North Texas Performing Arts' upcoming production of Hairspray. The musical, part of NTPA's Diversity-in-Action Production Series, will feature local students in grades 5-12.

Hennepin Theatre Trust has announced that HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, returns to Minneapolis next year as part of the 2022-2023 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season.

The National Tour of Tina - the Tina Turner Musical launched in Washington, D.C. Read all of the reviews here!

After a performance at this year’s Levitation festival in Austin, Srsq takes off up the East Coast supporting Ceremony in Atlanta, Nashville, Philadelphia, NYC and more. December 2 she joins Choir Boy down the West Coast, performing in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and more. Check out the complete list of tour dates now!

All new photos and video have been released of the new cast of the North American tour of Hairspray, helmed by Jack O’Brien and Jerry Mitchell. Check out the clips and photos here!

Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named the 2022−23 recipients of their nationwide Science on Screen grant program this week, awarding grants totaling $245,000 to 40 independent cinemas, museums, and community groups with film programs.

Director Sidney Lumet followed a string of Oscar®-winning 1970s classics with this lavish adaptation of the popular Broadway musical The Wiz, noted for its lively score and all-Black cast.  The Academy Museum’s first anniversary screening of The Wiz will feature live dance performances by the Debbie Allen Dance Studio youth performers.

Queer|Art, New York City’s home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists, has announced the upcoming Fall season of Queer|Art|Film, presented in person from September 19th – December 5th. Queer|Art|Film returns once again to the IFC Center with a season curated by multidisciplinary artists Heather Lynn Johnson and Sarah Zapata.

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award®-winning musical comedy phenomenon, went on sale September 16, 2022 at 10 AM. This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O’Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play Friday, November 4 – Saturday, November 5, 2022 in Kalamazoo at Miller Auditorium. 

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, is on sale now! This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play November 8-13 in Columbus at the Ohio Theatre, presented by CAPA and PNC Broadway in Columbus.