Rarefied ‘Hair’

The “Hairspray” phenomenon began in 1988, when cult director John Waters released his original, ultra-campy movie by that name. Then, in 2002, “Hairspray”-mania reached new heights with the debut of the stage musical version at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre. The show moved to Broadway, where it won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

But the phenomenon is truly rooted in a much earlier time: 1962, that pre-Beatles era of the beehive, the pompadour and the perm.

The appeal of “Hairspray” resides in its hilarious, campy look at a year in which many aspects of American life – music, fashion, hairdos and racial relations – were about to change.

Local audiences can see for themselves when the national touring version of the show comes to the INB Performing Arts Center for eight performances starting Tuesday.

“Hairspray” is about Tracy Turnblad, a big-boned Baltimore girl with a bouffant and a passion for dancing. When she wins a spot on “The Corny Collins Show,” she becomes an instant teen celebrity.

Will Tracy triumph over teen queen Amber Van Tussle? Will she win the heart of Link Larkin? Will she be able to end racial discrimination on the TV show?

These are the questions at the heart of “Hairspray,” which is still knocking ‘em dead, more than 1,800 performances later, at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. Even the tough New York critics loved it.

” ‘Hairspray’ succeeds in re-creating the pleasures of the old-fashioned musical without seeming old-fashioned,” wrote Ben Brantley of The New York Times.

Clive Barnes of the New York Post called it “a great big fat gorgeous hit.”

The national tour is a faithful re-creation of the Broadway production, according to Jerry O’Boyle – who ought to know. He plays Tracy’s mother, Edna.

“It has all of the same production values of the Broadway show,” said O’Boyle. “We have 31 actors, a 12-piece orchestra and 120 wigs.”

It even has the pop-up cartoon set, designed by David Rockwell, and the Tony-winning costumes by William Ivey Long.

By the way, you may have noticed that O’Boyle is playing a character named Edna. That’s one of the enduring traditions of “Hairspray”: the plus-sized housewife Edna Turnblad is played by a man.

In the original movie, it was the drag queen Divine; on Broadway, it was Harvey Fierstein, followed by Michael McKean; in the upcoming film version of the musical it will be John Travolta.

O’Boyle considers it a challenge, to say the least.

“It’s quite a project, let me tell you,” he said by phone from a tour stop. “It involves four different wigs, high heels and 40 pounds of breast enhancement. It usually takes about a half-hour, pre-preparation, and another half-hour of doing makeup.”

He got the job because “they were looking for someone not afraid to express their feminine side.”

O’Boyle certainly isn’t afraid. This is his third female role, after playing Lady Bracknell in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and the Mother Superior in “Nunsense, A-Men.”

A longtime Chicago area theater veteran, O’Boyle also has played Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Ben Franklin in “1776” and Alfred P. Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.”

He left the theater business for six years, in search of a simpler life following a bout of respiratory disease. But when he got the call from the “Hairspray” casting director, he didn’t hesitate.

“I knew this was a part I had to do,” said O’Boyle. “The message of this show is very important. I sing a line which sums it up: ‘You can’t stop the happiness because I like the way I am.’ “

Get ready to hear a whole lot more about “Hairspray” in 2007: The Travolta-Queen Latifah-Christopher Walken movie is due out in July.