We caught up with drag queen Nina West as she leads the cast of 'Hairspray' in Austin

The cast of "Hairspray" will be the nicest kids in town next week when they say good morning, err, evening to Austin during its five-day run here. Did we use enough song titles in that sentence? Should we tell you to run and tell your friends about the show?

OK, seriously. "Hairspray" is coming to Bass Concert Hall and we can't wait. Shows will run June 13-18. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at: texasperformingarts.org. Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell, the show's original director and choreographer, respectively, are directing and choreographing this tour.

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A little "Hairspray" history for you: The musical debuted as a movie in 1988 and starred drag queen Divine as Edna Turnblad, mother to main character Tracy Turnblad. The show follows Tracy Turnblad as she dances on to television in 1960s Baltimore, Maryland, and fights for integration and social change. "Hairspray" opened on Broadway in 2002 with Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad.

Andrew Levitt, AKA drag queen Nina West, will take on the iconic role of Edna in Austin. Levitt competed as West in the 11th season of "RuPaul's Drag Race."

"'Hairspray' is, I think, one of the great American musicals. It is so much fun and it's a beautiful show that's packed with an incredible message," Levitt said. "The 1988 film, John Waters' movie, is all about a girl wanting everyone to have an opportunity to dance on a show together, but this show becomes so much more. It becomes about joy and love and equality and acceptance."

Levitt has watched the story affect audiences in different ways since he took on the role in 2021. Those first shows felt like talking about a post-George Floyd world, Levitt said. Floyd was killed in May 2020 in Minnesota by a police officer who knelt on his neck for roughly 9 minutes. Floyd's death led to protests and demonstrations against police brutality that summer.

Now, Levitt said, the show's meaning has evolved for audiences after red states, like Texas and Florida, began introducing anti-LGBTQ+ bills in their legislatures, he said. What's happening is what happened when Levitt saw the show right before it opened on Broadway in 2002.

"It spoke to me as a gay person and I said, 'Oh my god, there's a place for me, I fit in somewhere,'" Levitt said.

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He explained "Hairspray's" effect like this: Toward the end of the show, Edna busts out of a big can of hairspray and goes through a transformation. She's confident now and sings "You can't stop my happiness because I like the way I am."

The song goes on to say "'Cause you can't stop the motion of the ocean or the rain from above," which is ultimately about integration and how progress will happen no matter what. Levitt says it's timely for now, too, as being a man in a dress feels like a statement as transgender people across the U.S. are attacked.

"I think that a man standing in a dress on stage in Omaha, Nebraska, or wherever we've been throughout this country — Orange, Texas; Auburn, Alabama; Los Angeles, California — the power in this time period of a man at the end of the show standing in high drag saying, 'You can't stop my happiness because I like the way I am,' it's powerful and has been conveyed to me through the emails, cards, messages and DMs from fans who come to the show.

"To me, that is powerful and transformative," Levitt said.

This article has been updated to accurately reflect Levitt's last name and quotes him as Levitt instead of as Nina West.

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If you go

When: June 13-18

Where: Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Drive

Tickets: Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at texasperformingarts.org.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Broadway musical 'Hairspray' hits Austin's Bass Concert Hall in June