Vilanch to Star in B'way's Hairspray on October 5

As we previously reported, Bruce Vilanch is coming to the Great White Way. The Hairspray tour star will begin performances as Broadway's Edna Turnblad on October 5.

Vilanch is a writer, actor and comedian. He has been starring as Edna Turnblad in the Hairspray tour since it began in Baltimore in September 2003. In a review of the show's recent stop at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre, San Francisco Chronicle scribe Robert Hurwitt wrote: "[Vilanch] fills the part as amply as he fills Edna's barn- sized housedresses and flamboyant finery, assuming maternity without overstating it, hitting his punch lines with deadly accuracy and executing a slow-burn double-take with excruciating timing."

Vilanch recently co-wrote the Tony Awards. He has been on the writing team of the Academy Awards for over a decade, winning two consecutive Emmys for his work. He has also served a full-time head writer and semi-regular celebrity guest on Hollywood Squares. His stage credits includ providing material for Andrea Martin's one-woman show Nude Nude Totally Nude and writing and starring in his own off-Broadway show, Almost Famous.

Hairspray currently stars Michael McKean as Edna Turnblad, Carly Jibson as Tracy Turnblad, Dick Latessa as Wilbur Turnblad, Richard H. Blake as Link Larkin, Chester Gregory II as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Tracy Jai Edwards as Amber Von Tussle, Jennifer Gambatese as Penny Pingleton, Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Maybelle and Barbara Walsh as Velma.