Shannon Durig played Tracy through April 13 at the Neil Simon Theatre.

The Tony Award-winning musical's songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman saw Perry's performance at the playhouse and encouraged her to audition for the Broadway production where she was immediately offered the understudy role of Tracy. With a few performances under her belt, "and after waiting in the wings for her turn to shine," according to producers, she now officially takes over the starring role.

Perry follows four previous Tracys: Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur, soap opera star and Daytime Emmy Award nominee Kathy Brier, Carly Jibson (who is back on Broadway in John Waters' latest musical, Cry-Baby) and Shannon Durig, who recently played over 1,000 performances.

The cast currently includes George Wendt as Edna, Aaron Tveit as Link, Tevin Campbell as Seaweed, Darlene Love as Motormouth Maybelle, Karen Mason as Velma, and more.

Hairspray, which celebrated its fifth anniversary on Broadway in August 2007, is the winner of eight 2003 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor (Harvey Fierstein), Best Actress (Marissa Jaret Winokur), Best Featured Actor (Dick Latessa), Best Score (Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman), Best Book (Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan), Best Director (Jack O'Brien), and Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long).

For more information visit www.hairsprayonbroadway.com.