Hayley Podschun: My Hairspray Movie Set Diary

About the author:
Counting the days until the July 20 premiere of the big-screen version of Hairspray? So is Hayley Podschun, who joined the Broadway company of the hit musical as Tammy hot on the heels of her movie debut performance in the same role. It's been all Hairspray, all the time, for this vivacious native of Overland Park, Kansas, since she hit the road on the first national tour—and she's understandably thrilled. After all, not every aspiring Broadway leading lady can say that she's danced with John Travolta in drag as supermom Edna Turnblad, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, James Marsden and High School Musical heartthrob Zac Efron. Podschun gave Broadway.com a private preview of the forthcoming movie, sharing exclusive snapshots from the set and excerpts from her movie diary.

My life with Hairspray started almost a year and a half ago when I joined the musical's first national tour playing Tammy, one of the "Nicest Kids in Town," and understudying Penny Pingleton and Amber Von Tussle. The road was a wonderful, exciting experience: traveling to a different city almost every week, living in hotels, shopping and eating out in towns I'd never heard of. While the show was in Los Angeles, I went on as Penny just as auditions were being held for the upcoming film version. Naturally, I—along with 2,000 other hopefuls my age—went in and gave it my all.

Auditioning for the Hairspray movie was an all-day process of dancing in groups and with partners, then reading on camera. By 10:00 AM the following morning, I received the call: I would be one of 18 "council kids" in the movie! With the national tour scheduled to close in about a month, I'd get two weeks off before beginning rehearsals for the film on July 9 in Toronto. What follows is my abridged diary of the movie experience.

Day 1: Our pick-up time this morning is at 9:30 AM, which will be the norm for a while. Looking at the schedule, I note that we work 10:00-6:00 Monday through Friday. Two days off? That's unheard of in the theater world! Arriving at Shoreline Studios feels like the first day of school. In addition to the council kids, the actors playing Tracy Turnblad Nikki Blonsky, Link Larkin Zac Efron and Amber Von Tussle Brittany Snow are on hand, along with director/choreographer extraordinaire Adam Shankman, four assistant choreographers, three music supervisors and a handful of assistant directors who will wrangle us throughout the shoot. We start the day with vocal rehearsal so we'll know what to sing while dancing and a "welcome" meeting, then jump right into "Nicest Kids in Town." The choreography's intense—lots of turns, jumps and lifts. At the end of the day, we all go out to dinner to get to know one another.

Day 14: Wow! My body is worn out. After learning "Nicest Kids in Town," "Ladies Choice" the amazing new Link Larkin song and the "Stricken Chicken" a Dance of the Day on the Corny Collins TV show, set to the music of "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now", we're all extremely tired. Almost every Friday, we do the movie set version of show-and-tell: The producers, costumers, cinematographers and ADs come see what we've accomplished so far in rehearsal. These informal performances help them consider what kind of clothing we should wear and how best to film the dance numbers. Of course, since this is the movies, rehearsals also include a few fun surprises. One day there's a juice truck waiting for us during our lunch break, along with free Nike gear. I could get used to this! Wednesday has turned into So You Think You Can Dance viewing night at Adam's house. All of us council kids and choreographers have dinner and "judge" that night's performances, a wonderful way to bond and spend time together.

Day 24: Today is nice because we aren't in the studio. The film crew wants to do a test day on location in preparation for filming "Welcome to the '60s." To help out, we've learned bits of the dance and take to the street, no costumes, hair or makeup required: They just want to see what type of angles will work best on the actual shoot date. When it's time to "roll," police officers stop traffic for us, then we run back to the sidewalk after we're done. By the end of the day, it's raining, so we head back to Shoreline. The Motormouth and Detention dancers arrive today, as well as our Seaweed J. Stubbs Elijah Kelly and Penny Pingleton Amanda Bynes.

Day 34: We're getting closer to actual filming! This is what we've been preparing for, and I can't wait. Another day of test shoots for "Nicest Kids in Town" gives us a taste of what the real thing will be like—very long hours and lots of sitting around. I've been fortunate enough to head into the recording studio this week to sing "The New Girl in Town," a song written for the movie that I perform with Brittany Snow as Amber. We've also had final costume fittings. I have a brown flip wig with swoop bangs, and it's weird to see myself with dark hair.

Day 38: Today brings one of my favorite events so far: the table read. Every star is there—John Travolta Edna Turnblad, Michelle Pfeiffer Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken Wilbur Turnblad, Queen Latifah Motormouth Maybelle and James Marsden Corny Collins. We read through the entire script, stopping for songs and dances and a few snack breaks. Hearing the actors read their lines makes the movie truly come to life. All the dancers are speechless—we can't believe we've landed this incredible job! On a break, a friend and I ask Chris Walken if it's true he's running for President, a rumor that has just started on the internet. He denies the report and says he has no idea where the idea came from, adding that he finds it amusing.

Day 65: Day One of filming! Our pickup this morning is at around 5:45 AM and we head out on location for the final sequence of "Good Morning Baltimore," when Tracy walks into school. I get home at 7:00 PM. A long day, but definitely worth it!

Day 125: Today is the council kids' first day back after a month off in which scenes and numbers we aren't in have been filmed. It's time to tackle "You Can't Stop the Beat," and the hours get longer and longer. Sometimes we wrap at 7:00 AM and see the sun rise as we're going to bed. John Travolta and Queen Latifah have been on set with us a lot during this number. Seeing John shimmy like Tina Turner in his Edna fat suit becomes the highlight of my day. It's going to be a huge, fabulous number.

Day 134: Today we complete "Miss Baltimore Crabs" with Michelle Pfeiffer. It's an unreal experience dancing next to an icon like her. They've added a fun dance break for Michelle that will definitely be a showstopper. We also finished "Ladies Choice" about a week ago. This new Link song, performed at the school dance, has become the dancers' favorite number, the "Hand Jive" of Hairspray! Everyone will be dancing in their seats when they hear this one.

Day 144: It's my last day of filming on the most exciting job I've ever had. I've always dreamed of being in a project from beginning to end because you learn so much. Imagine getting to share a dance circle with Christopher Walken, hear Queen Latifah sing a song about my wig !, hang out with Amanda, Zac and Brittany, and dance behind James Marsden, who's a sweetheart with a voice that sounds like Frank Sinatra. All I can say is that I can't wait until everyone gets to see the movie—including me!

Today: My journey with Hairspray continues: I'm now playing Tammy on Broadway! I loved everything about the movie, but there's something really special about playing this part every night in front of an audience. It's great to see the reaction of parents and kids after they see the show together live at the Neil Simon Theatre. This whole ride has been exhilarating, and I continue to cherish every second.