Craig Zadan on stage, featured prominently in Zadan's televised version. Chita Rivera appears in "Chicago" as "Nickie"; she played "Velma Kelly" in the original 1975 production. The film adaptation of "Hairspray" featured John Waters (writer/director) as "the flasher who lives next door;" Jerry Stiller ("Wilbur Turnblad") as "Mr. Pinky;" and Ricki Lake ("Tracy") as a reporter. On the soundtrack, Lake joins Nikki Blonsky and Marissa Jaret Winokur ("Tracy" from the Broadway production) to sing "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" over the closing credits, and Harvey Fierstein (Broadway's "Edna") can be heard briefly soon after. Mink Stole ("Tammy" in the original film)
Ricki and the Flash shot at Untermyer Park in Yonkers, New York. On May 6, 2014, Sony's TriStar set the film for a June 26, 2015 release. The release date was later changed to August 7, 2015. The film was chosen as the opening selection for the 2015 Locarno Film Festival which was held on August 5, 2015 in Locarno, Switzerland. "Ricki and the Flash" grossed $26.8 million in North America and $13.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $40.1 million, against a budget of $18 million. The film grossed $6.6 million from 1,603 theaters in its opening weekend, finishing 7th