The role helped put Marissa Jaret Winokur on the map, winning her a Tony Award as the chubby-but-dance-crazed Tracy. 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.

Winokur left the show Aug. 10 to work on a TV movie. As with the Tony Award-nominated Corey Reynolds, who played Seaweed and left the show earlier this summer, 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 other projects.

The Daily News reported Winokur could be back in January 2004, but there is no contract yet. The paper reported that at the Aug. 10 curtain call for Winokur's last show songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman presented the company and the audience with 1,700 Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Winokur will star in and executive produce an ABC Family movie about an unlikely beauty-pageant contestant, according to the paper, adding that she's also working on a pilot being developed for her by ABC.

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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.

Performances play the Neil Simon Theatre. The national tour begins Sept. 9 in Baltimore.

Hairspray took home 2003 Tonys for Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Direction and Best Costume Design.