Harvey Fierstein’s contribution to Hairspray

[darreyl102]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 5:12am

So, watching Harvey’s interview with Paul Wontorek on Show People, Harvey stated that he Ghost wrote Hairspray, but also structured it and “Stuff”. Was very curious what the story was on this? Harvey mentions it in a very offhanded way and didn’t seem to really want to expand on it.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 6:41pm

He, being a Tony Award winning writer, provided feedback to the creative team on the book of the show. He basically wrote the Edna dialogue/one-liners, etc. Basically, the dialogue that wasn't carried over from the original 1988 film.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/17/13 at 6:55pm

Beyond that, Harvey is a comedian, at least in one of his past creative lives. It is customary that when a part is written or revised for a comedian, they have a certain amount of ghostwriting input. Hence why Sid Caesar's characters in Little Me '62 have a distinct Sid Caesar flavor, and why Martin Short's characters are distinctly tailored to his comic sensibility in Little Me '98, while Victor Garber's characters in Little Me '82 are somewhat more generic musical theatre "types."