An excerpt from Harvey on playing Edna in “Hairspray”
Next, how might Edna move through the world? New York City streets provided plenty of plus-sized women to follow and emulate. I found how she would walk on sidewalks as opposed to a floor, on heels and scuffies, at home and in public. All in all, I employ sixteen different walks to portray Edna. (If you watch carefully you can even pick out a moment when I ape Bette Midler’s famous strut and another walk is my homage to Anna Magnani.) I likewise attended to my hand movements since there was no time to apply nail polish to transform them from the crusty mitts of a laundress to the daintily dancing hands I’d need to perform the finale.
For Full Article at Playbill: Becoming a Woman, or How Edna Gets Born
