Hairspray Live! stage show but cut and only used in the film, was not added. (An instrumental version of the song is, however, heard very briefly as a bit of background music.) In addition to adapting the book, Fierstein reprised his performance of Edna Turnblad from the Broadway musical; Greenblatt felt that his performance of Edna was "iconic", and that his involvement with "Hairspray Live!" made it "come full circle". NBC cast the lead role of Tracy Turnblad through an open call in New York City, hoping to repeat the "phenomenal discovery" of Shanice Williams for "The Wiz". The role went to
History of cross-dressing whom the troupe has said is the most hilarious in drag, appears so extremely unfeminine, with his square chin and six-foot, five-inch frame that it is funny. Cleese also wore female clothes while appearing as "himself" in a magazine advertisement for American Express. "Monty Python's Flying Circus" also did a sketch called "The Lumberjack Song," about a lumberjack who likes to "put on women's clothing and hang around in bars." In "Clue: The Musical", Mrs. White is usually played by a man. In all versions of "Hairspray"—the original film, the stage musical, and the film adapted from the musical—Edna Turnblad