John Travolta to play downtrodden mother in "Hairspray" remake

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — John Travolta will reportedly star in a female role in the new Adam Shankman-directed version of the long-playing Broadway hit musical comedy "Hairspray."

According to variety, Travolta, 52, who launched his career as the disco-dancing king of "Saturday Night Fever" and later triumphed in "Pulp Fiction," will take the downtrodden housewife role played by the outrageous transvestite actor Divine in the original 1988 John Waters film.

"Hairspray" tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a chubby teenage girl who seeks fame and sparks controversy as television show dancer in the early 1960s. Travolta will play her mother.

Producers are currently conducting a nationwide search for a "fresh face" to play Turnblad.

Meanwhile they have also...