John Travolta reviews and did very poorly at the box office. Travolta's performance in "Battlefield Earth" also earned him two Razzie Awards. Throughout the 2000s, Travolta remained busy as an actor, starring in many films including "Swordfish" (2001), "Ladder 49" (2004), "Be Cool" (2005), "Wild Hogs" (2007), the animated film "Bolt" (2008), in which Travolta voiced the title character, "The Taking of Pelham 123" and "Old Dogs" (both 2009). In 2007, Travolta played Edna Turnblad in the remake of "Hairspray", his first musical since "Grease". Since 2010, Travolta has starred mostly in action films and thrillers. In 2016, he returned to TV
Hairspray (musical) spent two years preparing with voice and dance lessons. Tracy's mother had been portrayed by Divine in the original film, and Shaiman liked the idea of maintaining the tradition of casting a male as Edna Turnblad. Harvey Fierstein auditioned for the role with a "half hour vocal audition". He thought they were "pacifying" him, but he was told "they don't want anyone but you". According to Shaiman, one song, "I Know Where I've Been," became controversial during the genesis of the score: The civil rights story line is a very important aspect of the musical. This story line and the