The contest was presented by Ladies Home Journal and its website LHJ.com. Goshko will make her Broadway debut at the 2 PM performance.
Goshko won the prize — a trip to New York and a chance to rehearse and perform with the cast and company of Hairspray — after she was selected by an internet voting process that spanned several months and several steps.
As part of the process, critiques by Hairspray's Diana DeGarmo, Haylie Duff, and Marc Shaiman were posted on the Hairspray website at www.hairspraythemusical.com/dance.
Goshko arrived in New York on Feb. 22 to meet with Hairspray staff, get fitted for costume and wig, and rehearse her appearance in the show that Saturday night. She is a recent college graduate with a degree in drama/television/film performance. She has acting credits from college and worked for an improv studio during senior year, clocking some open-mic time. Upon graduation, Goshko performed in an East Coast children's theatre and then returned to Tulsa where she has been active in theatre ever since.
In Hairspray at the Neil Simon, "it's 1962 — the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion—to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, 'The Corny Collins Show' and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a plus-size trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray!" Hairspray, Tony Award winner for Best Musical, is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, who serves as a creative consultant on the musical comedy.
It features a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, and a score by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Hairspray is directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell; scenic design is by David Rockwell; costume design is by William Ivey Long; lighting design is by Kenneth Posner; and sound design is by Steve C. Kennedy.
A film version of the Broadway musical will be released this summer. John Travolta stars as Edna.
Hairspray plays Tuesday and Thursday at 7 PM; Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 PM; Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM; and Sunday at 3 PM.
The Neil Simon Theatre is located at 250 West 52nd Street.
For ticket information, phone Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100, or for group sales, phone (212) 302-7000 or (800) 677-1164.
Visit www.hairsprayonbroadway.com.
