April Perrin recently spent five hours waiting in a line of 1,000 other women who look exactly like her.
That's because the Sudbury native travelled to New York City for the April 24 open call audition for Tracy Turnblad in the upcoming live musical “Hairspray Live!”, scheduled to air on NBC later this year.
Jennifer Hudson, Harvey Fierstein, Martin Short and Derek Hough have already been confirmed as cast members.
Tracy Turnblad is the musical's lead character, a pleasantly plump teenager who teaches 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration after landing a spot on a local TV show.
You might be familiar with the 2007 movie starring Nikki Blonsky or the original 1988 version starring Rikki Lake. The musical's original Broadway production opened in 2002.
Perrin, 21, recently finished a three-year program at St. Lawrence College's musical theatre school. She's also a 2013 graduate of Sudbury Secondary School's arts education program.
“I got there around 7 a.m. and the line was already around the block,” said Perrin, the daughter of Northern Life circulation manager Giselle Perrin.
“We waited a really long time. I didn't actually get into the audition room until about 12:15 p.m. It was a long day, but it was so rewarding. It was definitely intimidating, for sure, because you've never seen so many people that look exactly like you.”
Perrin said she was asked to sing a capella, and then was given a callback, and sang again for those involved in the musical's casting.
“Out of the 1,000 girls, I would say 90 per cent of them got 15 seconds,” she said. “They went in and they were done. It was so nice to get an extra minute, and they kept my resume.”
Although Perrin has no idea whether or not she's still in the running for “Hairspray Live!”, she'll definitely play the part of Tracy Turnblad very soon.
She's been cast for the part in YES Theatre's production of the musical, set to be staged by the local theatre company this August.
“I'm so excited to be doing 'Hairspray,'” Perrin said. “Tracy Turnblad, it's a dream role of mine. Ever since I was originally exposed to the movie, I thought 'Oh my God, someone who looks like me. That's amazing.'
“I love the show. I love what it stands for. I'm so happy I finally get to tackle it, and in my hometown, nonetheless.”
As for her her plans after this summer, Perrin said she'll move to Toronto in September and try to make it in the show business. Yes, it's a tough nut to crack for sure, but the young woman is determined.
“I'm going to keep submitting until someone hires me, and hope for the best,” she said. “I can't picture doing anything else with my life.”
