It’s the role that put Ricki Lake on the map and John Travolta will be playing her mother - so it’s pretty fair to say that 17-year-old Nikki Blonsky is the happiest kid in Hollywood today.
Helmer Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House) and the producers of Hairspray embarked on a nationwide talent search in an effort to cast the part of chubby Tracy Turnbald. Blonsky will join up with a host of Tinseltown talent including Billy Crystal and Queen Latifah.
Blonsky is well known upstate in Great Neck, where she is regularly drafted in to warble the national anthem at sporting events and brought the house down in the hometown production of the musical Hair.
The character of Turnbald becomes a teen dancing sensation on a prime-time TV show and uses her fame to take a stance on some controversial issues.
The original flick was helmed by bad taste merchant John Waters. Shankman’s take on the tuneful tale is currently in pre-production and is expected in cinemas next summer.
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