Marissa Jaret Winokur Expected to Exit Hairspray Aug. 10

By Kenneth Jones
July 31, 2003

USA Today is reporting that Kathy Brier will replace Marissa Jaret Winokur in the Tony Award-winning musical, Hairspray, Aug. 12.

There has been talk in the community for weeks that Winokur, who snagged the Tony for playing Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad, would leave the Neil Simon Theatre Aug. 10 to focus on TV work. As of July 31, Playbill On Line has been unable to get confirmation from the producers that Winokur's exit will be Aug. 10.

Brier plays Marci Walsh on TV's "One Life to Live." Her job as the recent Tracy standby marks her Broadway debut. She appeared in Off-Broadway's Bat Boy and The Prince and the Pauper.

As with the Tony Award-nominated Corey Reynolds, who played Seaweed and left the show recently, the producers have an open-door to their family of principal actors. Winokur is expected to continue to have a relationship with Hairspray after she's through with commitments to TV projects.

Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein also has other projects to address, but there has been no official exit date announced for the actor who plays Tracy's mother in a musical comedy drag turn that's been celebrated for more than a year now.