Playing Edna Turnblad in the touring musical production of “Hairspray” has been a source of endless wonders for actor Jerry O’Boyle.
He has seen audiences who might not accept a drag performance of a man playing a woman in other venues in their towns embrace his portrayal of Edna.
He has seen audiences not realize a man is playing the show’s famed mother role until several minutes into the performance.
And he’s seen perceptions change from town to town and show to show.
He looks forward to seeing Valdosta’s reaction to his and his cast mates’ performances next week when the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts Presenter Series hosts “Hairspray” at Mathis City Auditorium.
“It’s so rewarding,” O’Boyle says during a recent phone interview with The Valdosta Daily Times. “Not only playing this wonderful character with such a physical presence, but I feel very responsible to the idea of this character.”
Since the character of Edna was first introduced she has been played by men. First, Divine had the role in the non-musical yet very musically influenced Roger Waters’ 1980s movie “Hairspray.” Harvey Fierstein made the role of Edna his own when Waters’ movie was adapted into a live Broadway musical. John Travolta played Edna in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical.
The trick to playing Edna is delicate. The character is not a man pretending to be a woman. Instead, it’s a man playing a woman’s role. The character of Edna Turnblad is very much a woman. She just happens to be traditionally played by a man.
While the “Hairspray” production coming to Valdosta began several weeks ago, O’Boyle has been playing Edna Turnblad regularly since June 2006, performing across the U.S., Canada, and in Tokyo and Beijing. The trick for him isn’t just playing Edna as a woman but as a character who is not weighed down by the past performances of Divine, Fierstein, or Travolta.
“I told producers early on, I’m not interested in doing Harvey Fierstein as Edna,” O’Boyle says. “As unique as Harvey was, I wanted to bring my own interpretation to the character.”
Even with years of experience, it is still a process transforming Jerry O’Boyle into Edna Turnblad. It takes him and two assistants about 45 minutes to prepare him for the role.
“To create that illusion, it takes a village,” O’Boyle says.
In addition to loving the character, O’Boyle loves the message of “Hairspray.” The show is set in the big-hair days of the 1960s, when an overweight, teenaged girl, Edna’s daughter Tracy Turnblad, defies conventions concerning looks and race on a TV rock ’n’ roll dance show.
“It is a unique story that people can relate to because it is an underdog story that addresses so many issues in a fun and uncompromising way,” O’Boyle says.
Actress Danielle Arci enjoys these same qualities about the show. Arci plays the teenaged Tracy Turnblad. She has been a fan of the original “Hairspray” movie since a kid. She has dreamed of playing Tracy since seeing the musical version on Broadway.
She doesn’t base her Tracy on other actresses’ performances, but by “bringing myself to the role. The director told me to stick to what you know.”
“Hairspray” is Arci’s first national tour, having recently attended the Academy of Performing Arts in New Jersey.
Asked if she could see herself breaking tradition to play the role of Edna a couple of decades from now, Arci says it would be a great role for a woman but seems to work so well with a man playing the character.
“It’s amazing watching Jerry play Edna, watching the audience not realize that a man is playing a woman,” she says, adding it brings an extra dimension to the show.
O’Boyle says he believes someday a production will cast an actress to play Edna for the shock value of having a woman play a woman’s role traditionally played by a man, he laughs.
Though he loves the acceptance which audiences give the character, his biggest moment is when he realizes the audience has completely forgotten that he is a man playing a woman’s role, when audiences accept Edna as Edna.

Showtime:
Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts Presenter Series presents “Hairspray.”
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11.
Where: Mathis City Auditorium, 2300 N. Ashley St.
Ticket: $45.
Pre-show dinner (optional): Starts 5:30 p.m., Feb. 11, at Mathis. Catered by Covington’s. Menu: Beef stroganoff, egg noodles, corn pudding, broccoli with butter and red peppers, yeast rolls with butter, spinach salad, assorted desserts, iced tea, coffee. Add $15 to ticket price per dinner.
Reservations, more information: Call 247-2787.