The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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MANY talented actresses have played Tracy Turnblad in the film or theatre productions of Hairspray. Here's a quick look at a few notable ones.

> Ricki Lake (in John Waters' 1988 film, Hairspray): The role was Ricki Lake's film debut, when she was 20. Five years and several movies later, she became famous for her daytime TV talk show, which ran from 1993 to 2004. In 2011, she was a contestant on TV's Dancing With The Stars, where she made it to the finals and finished in third place. Last year she launched a new talk show, but it was cancelled after one season.

She has a cameo appearance in the 2007 remake of Hairspray as a talent agent, and teams up with star Nikki Blonsky (who plays Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 movie, see next) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (the original Broadway's Tracy) to record Mama I'm A Big Girl Now for the movie's soundtrack.

> Marissa Jaret Winokur (in the Broadway musical adaptation of Hairspray in 2002): Winokur was diagnosed with cervical cancer during the early developmental stages of the musical but kept it under wraps because she was afraid she'd lose the role; fortunately she made a full recovery and went on with the show. She won several awards, including the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 2003, for her performance in Hairspray. Like Lake, Winokur also appeared on Dancing With The Stars, in 2008, and made it to the semifinals.

> Nikki Blonsky (in Adam Shankman's 2007 film, Hairspray): Ever since she saw Broadway's Hairspray on her 15th birthday, Blonsky was determined to one day play the role of Tracy Turnblad. At 19 years old, she made the dream a reality.

Blonsky went on to earn a cosmetology license and worked part-time at a salon. It has been announced that she will be in the film adaptation of Geography Club, which is based on a novel about a group of high school students who feel like outcasts because of their sexual orientation. The movie is scheduled for release in 2014.

> Leanne Jones (in the West End production of Hairspray in 2007): British actress Leanne Jones had been in a few minor productions prior to this role, but none were as big as her London West End debut as Tracy. She won the Laurence Olivier Award in 2008 for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance.

Da Vinci on show

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Venice hosts rare Leonardo da Vinci drawings exhibition.

Fifty-two drawings by Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci are going on show in Venice beginning this week, including the famous but rarely-seen Vitruvian Man charting the ideal proportions of the human body.

The show in the city's Galleria dell'Academia displays works from the museum's own archives as well as from the collections of the British Royal Family, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and the Louvre.

Leonardo da Vinci: The Universal Man charts his artistic and scientific research, including drawings on botany, mechanics, optics and warfare as well as preparatory sketches for some of his most famous works.

The Vitruvian Man, from the museum's collection, has not been seen in public in 30 years but is an iconic image seen on T-shirts and posters around the world.

It was based on the writings of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, who sought the same proportions of the human body in nature and used them in building.

The exhibition runs from Aug 29 to Dec 1.

Venice hosts rare Leonardo drawings exhibition. - AFP

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a polymath who embodied the humanist values of the Renaissance.

Exhibition curator Annalisa Perissa Torriani said the display was intended to give visitors an insight into the inner workings of Leonardo's mind. It "shows Leonardo reasoning and translating from his brain to his hand but always retracing his steps to add corrections and additions," she said. — AFP Relaxnews

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Isnin, 2 September 2013