I'm sorry, but I have to rant. This is an annoying argument! This is crazy! I have the same argument with my mom about Brandy Playing Cinderella how many years back!!!!
I played a Chinese guy once in a show of Emperors New Clothes, I am Caucasian. In a version of Huck FInn I did, unfortunatly we had a white Jim. My university used two white actors to play the asians in Anything Goes. We had a black Lord Evelyn Oakley in the Anything Goes. YES Hairspray is about integration, but a small role of a guy in a jukebox will not kill the message of the show if the actor is white or black.
Yes racism and discrimination is gonna happen onstage, in the theatre ... but who cares if there are two white swings, and one black swing. How about we strap a boom-box to a giraffe and send him across stage ... I'm sure Lion King has extra costumes in the shop.
I don't see an argument going on here at all. This is just Hairspray fans discussing substitutions that may occur of different gender or race than originally intended. Personally I like this thread a lot and find it very interesting.
Dean: Can I tell you something?
Lorraine: That depends on what it is.
Dean: I think you're really really pretty.
Lorraine: (after a pause) Ok, you can tell me that.
