'RuPaul's Drag Race' favorite takes turn as Edna in 'Hairspray' at the Orpheum

The role of plus-sized Edna Turnblad has attracted many plus-sized talents, and another one is headed to the Twin Cities.

When high-energy musical "Hairspray" opens Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre, it'll feature Andrew Levitt as Edna, the overprotective mother of Tracy Turnblad, who campaigns to end segregation on a TV dance show in 1960s Baltimore. Slipping into the prosthetics and sequins should come naturally to Levitt since he is best known as drag queen Nina West, who was named "Miss Congeniality" on the 11th season of "RuPaul's Drag Race."

"I'm just a really big ol' man in a dress and I celebrate that," Levitt said in an introductory interview for "Drag Race." Although agitators are trying to stir up controversy around drag artists, Levitt follows in the footsteps of a bunch of other big old men who won acclaim in Edna's sensible flats. They include Harvey Fierstein, who earned a 2003 Tony Award for the original Broadway production of "Hairspray," and John Travolta, a 2008 Golden Globe nominee for the movie version.

Here's a look at a few of the actors who've slipped into Edna's housecoats, evening gowns and, in one case, fringe.

Divine, nonmusical 1988 film

No matter who plays Edna, they're working from a pattern established by this drag giant, for whom John Waters created the role. Most Ednas have fooled around with the idea that we're watching a man play a woman but Divine simply assumed we'd accept him as a woman — virtually all of his roles were female, many of them in Waters films such as "Polyester" and "Female Trouble." And, crass as Edna could be, Divine's humanity assured an I-am-what-I-am dignity that has stuck to her ever since.

Harvey Fierstein, Broadway, 2002-2004

Although he's primarily known for male roles (including in the film "Mrs. Doubtfire"), Fierstein began his career as a high school student playing drag roles in off-off-Broadway shows, as described in his autobiography "I Was Better Last Night." Fierstein's Edna was big and brassy but the highlight of his performance was the sweet "(You're) Timeless to Me" duet with husband Wilbur, in which Fierstein danced with elegance and finesse. The actor has returned to the role often, including in a TV version and an ill-fated Las Vegas production he laments in his book.

Replacements for Fierstein in the smash 2002-09 Broadway run included Michael McKean ("Best in Show"), George Wendt ("Cheers") and Bruce Vilanch, who also toured the country as Edna. Andrew Lloyd Webber favorite Michael Ball played her in London.

John Travolta, 2007 film

There's no question who's the best dancer ever to tackle Edna. The "Pulp Fiction" star told the New York Times his Edna was akin to Sophia Loren if she had eaten a lot of carbonara over the years. Travolta also said he didn't want to seem like a man in drag; he wanted to disappear in the same way Linda Hunt did when she won an Oscar for playing a man in "The Year of Living Dangerously." You can debate whether Travolta succeeded (the facial prosthetics are a lot) but his vision becomes clear in "You Can't Stop the Beat" when, instead of the traditional evening gown, Edna dons a miniskirt for a shimmy-filled, butt-slapping homage to Tina Turner doing "Proud Mary."

David Anthony Brinkley, 2011-12 Chanhassen Dinner Theatres production

Brinkley is best known for more strait-laced appearances in "Othello" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Guthrie. That brought an intriguing tension to his deadpan performance as Edna because, while he disappeared into the role at Chanhassen, he also always seemed just a little surprised to be disappearing into it. His excellent scenes with Therese Walth as daughter Tracy had a classic-comedy, almost vaudeville quality. And, of all these performers, he was most believable at not being sure if he was going to make it through the exhausting final number, "You Can't Stop the Beat."

'Hairspray'

Who: Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Directed by Jack O'Brien. Based on the movie by John Waters.

When: 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sat., 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sun.

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $40-$139, 800-982-2787 or hennepintheatretrust.org.