John Pinette

[Phan#24601]

Did any of you guys see John Pinette play Edna in HAIRSPRAY in 2004? How did he do?

[darreyl102]

I LOVED him! i though he was really funny- i loved his ad libs during 'timeless to me', normally i find that song the boring part of the show but i enjoyed it when i saw him in the role, he said things like "Oh Wilbur, i can hear the bells!.... maybe it's the ice cream man- JUST A SECOND!" and "Carry Me to my room (looks at Wilbur and how small he is and looks at the audience) someone will have to help."

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

^ That's the kind of shtick he does in his comedy, truthfully, but the good part is it didn't interfere with the show or his character.

[madbrian]

I didn't enjoy him in the role...at all. To me, that kind of ad libbing shows disrespect for the writing. I saw Hairspray for times over the course of its run, and his Edna was, by far, the worst I saw.

[BrodyFosse123]

I was fortunate to catch him in the 1st Nat'l Tour of HAIRSPRAY after he replaced Bruce Vilanch and I LOVED him. I always loved how every actor brought his own to Edna Turnblad without ever having to alter their own masculine voices AND they were fully convincing. So much so that during intermission at the performance I attended the women next to us were raving about the large actress (Pinette) playing the mom.

Having been familiar with Pinette's stand-up comedy bit I was quite pleasantly surprised to see he indeed possessed acting ability and pulled-off perfectly a convincingly loving and touching Edna Turnblad.

[JoeKv99]

"Timeless to Me" was written to have "adlibs." If he was out of line, the director would have stopped it.

[DottieD'Luscia]

My least favorite Edna as well.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

He is my personal favorite Edna. I am VERY familiar with his stand up comedy, having seen him perform stand up 4 times. I also love his specials on Netflix. In of the 2 on Netflix, (I can't remember which), he actually talks a lot about his Broadway run as Edna. He is HILARIOUS. I love him.

[darquegk]

I liked the fact that his ad-libs WERE ad-libs. The "written ad-libs" that everyone does were getting somewhat stale.

[castlestreet]

He's really a fantastic performer and one of those guys that you watch having so much fun up on that stage, you can't help but smile!

[Kev]

Count me in as a fan of Pinette's Edna. Warm, witty, and touching. He also looked adorable in the garb. And Pinette's "Timeless to Me" (with his excellent chemistry opposite Stephen DeRosa) was still the funniest I've seen out of all the Broadway Ednas.

[darquegk]

Pinette was opposite Stephen DeRosa? I saw Pinette, and the guy playing opposite him didn't make such a huge impression on me that I would remember his name, the way I did Pinette.

Years later, I'm a big Boardwalk Empire fan, and discovering that I saw not only a popular comedian but a Boardwalk Empire regular in the same show as Darlene Love and POWERLINE is a big wake-up call to read the program more carefully!