In the wee hours of Saturday morning on the soundstages of the new movie version of Hairspray, the fat lady sang. Or at least lip-synched to a pre-recorded track. And then it was over for John Travolta. The Grease star wrapped his return to the musical genre. Travolta said goodbye to the generously proportioned Edna Turnblad — the same role created by the late Divine in the 1988 John Waters film and by Tony winner Harvey Fierstein in the smash Broadway show. Travolta’s version is expected in theaters next summer. "It’s good," said the exhausted actor of finally being freed of Edna’s cumbersome body. "The effect that I caused is fun and all, but it’s a lot of work, man." Travolta, 52, spent the past week filming the grand finale, YouCan’t Stop the Beat, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as hubby Wilbur and bubbly newcomer Nikki Blonsky, 17, as Edna’s daughter. While that scene caps Travolta’s involvement, the film’s shoot continues through early December. Travolta wanted to make Edna sexier and real, not a campy drag act. That required four hours of prep time before putting in eight hours of performing in padding and silicone prosthetics. "You feel like you are coming out of a prison. It’s such a relief to get air again to the skin and breathe again," he says. It’s the first time in his long career that he has played a woman, save for doing Barbra Streisand on Saturday Night Live. Becoming Edna was an eye-opener. "I thought, ‘My God, how do women do that?’ I know my mother had a girdle, bra and sometimes a cinch, but wow. How do they ever endure stockings and high heels? The discomfort level was astonishing. "When you have all that dancing to do and a level to live up to, you just go for it and forget the suit. But when that number is over, you’re gasping. It may be called You Can’t Stop the Beat, but I call it You Can’t Find Your Breath." Travolta isn’t exactly breathing easy over his next project, a big-screen adaptation of TV soap Dallas, which was to start filming next month but is delayed until January. He’ll still play wily J.R. Ewing. But other actors previously attached, including Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen, Luke Wilson as brother Bobby and Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie, are gone. "They did this survey thing, I guess," Travolta explains. "They liked me as J.R. and loved the title of Dallas. But they want to see me with comedians around me, to make sure it is a comedy."
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You know that is going to be the hot Halloween costume next year!
