Brian Conley & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway", and took over from Michael Ball in the musical "Hairspray" playing the role of Edna Turnblad at London's Shaftesbury Theatre. He also played the same role in the UK Tour of "Hairspray", sharing the role with Michael Ball and actor Michael Starke, at selected UK venues. He has also partaken in his own live show, "The Best of Brian Conley", which showcases 'the best' of Brian's material from his past shows, interspersed with occasional showreels of either Larry the Loafer, Dangerous Brian (depending on who Brian is about to come on stage as) or a
Hairspray (2007 film) company Alterian, Inc. were hired to design and create the look of Edna Turnblad on John Travolta. Costume designer Rita Ryack wanted to put Edna into several revealing outfits, so Travolta ended up being encapsulated in prosthetics. He wore silicone prosthetics on his head and neck, and foam latex arms and legs that connected to a spandex and foam body suit. Dixon was primarily hired to tone down much of the campiness inherent in the stage musical. The 2007 film's script is based primarily on the stage musical rather than the 1988 film, so several changes already made to the