Fierstein to Play Mrs. Claus in Parade

New York’s annual Thanksgiving parade is famous for its giant balloon caricatures, but Mrs. Claus in drag may be drawing the second looks this year.

In lighthearted support of a recent Massachusetts high court ruling favoring gay marriage, Harvey Fierstein – Broadway’s most famous drag queen – will dress as Mrs. Claus while riding downtown on a float.

Fierstein, star of the Broadway musical hit “Hairspray” and openly gay, wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times Wednesday promoting his planned homage to Mrs. Claus.

The 49-year-old playwright-actor, who wasn’t immediately available for comment, wrote that “to the delight of millions of little children, the Santa in New York’s great parade will be half of a same-sex couple.”

“And guess who the other half will be?” he asked. “Me! Harvey Fierstein, nice Jewish boy from Bensonhurst, dressed in holiday finery portraying the one and only Mrs. Claus.”

Fierstein will appear as his “Hairspray” character, Edna Turnblad – but dressed as Mrs. Claus – on the Percy and the P-Birds float, a group of penguin puppets. In the musical, Turnblad is the protective mom of a plump Baltimore teen who yearns to be popular.

Macy’s issued a statement saying the parade “has never and will never be a platform for political and social issues and opinions.”

Department store spokeswoman Elina Kazan said the traditional Mrs. Claus will ride with Santa on his sleigh as part of the parade’s grand finale Thursday. She called Fierstein’s alternative version “Edna’s interpretation of Mrs. Claus.”

—

On the Net:

http://www.macysparade.com/

http://www.hairsprayonbroadway.com/