When “Hairspray” opens at Plays-in-the Park in Edison on Wednesday, July 13, Cindy Sherbin Chait of West Windsor returns to a stage she has not been on since the late 1990s. Based on the 1988 John Waters film, the Broadway musical received eight Tony awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book. The musical takes place during the 1960s in Baltimore focusing on Tracy, a highly energetic plump teenage girl who makes it to television and shakes things up with a campaign to integrate the show. Chait portrays the role of Velma Von Tussle, the racist producer of the television show and a scheming mother who pushes her daughter to seek the stardom she never had.
“She is a bitchy character,” says Chait. Von Tussle not only rejects Tracy from the audition because of her size, but rejects a black girl as well. By the beginning of act two, there is a rally and most of the women are arrested and locked up in a women’s penitentiary.
Born and raised in Highland Park, Chait graduated from Rutgers with a bachelor’s degree in communications — with a minor in acting; and a master’s in education. She taught elementary school in Red Bank and then at a private school in New York City.
Chait, a triple threat, is proficient in acting, dancing, and singing. She has studied acting in college as well as in New York City. She has danced since she was a young child, and one of her favorite classes in New York City was dancing for singers and actors. She also studied piano and competed in regional and national levels. “My main forte is singing, and I still study in New York City,” she says.
Over the years she has performed as Sarah Brown in “Guys and Dolls,” Elaine in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Cinderella’s Mother in “Into the Woods,” Eve in “The Apple Tree,” and Muriel in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” Chait has been on stage in Plays-in-the-Park in Edison, Villagers Theater in Franklin, Off-Broadstreet Theater in Hopewell, and the Mighty Oak Players in Monroe.
Her husband, David, works in finance in New York City. Her son, Josh, 8, and daughter, Kayla, 6, are both students at Dutch Neck School, and Cindy is a PTA board member. Both children study karate at Tiger Shulman. Kayla studies dance at the Dance Corner and theater at Kelsey’s children’s theater classes.
“We moved to West Windsor when I was pregnant,” she says. “We fell in love with West Windsor because of nice backyards, a good school system, and the train to New York.”
Chait has only recently returned to the stage “post children.” Her first performance was in a Rogers and Hart revue in Monroe. “I was bitten by the bug again,” she says. “Being on stage is almost like an addiction, and I feel so much energy when performing.”
She was re-discovered by Plays-in-the-Park recently while performing the role of Velma Von Tussle in “Hairspray” at Playhouse 22 in East Brunswick. She will be reprising the role in Edison. Although there were a few weeks when Chait was performing the role in East Brunswick and rehearsing for Edison, the Playhouse 22 show closed last week.
“I’m having a great time but they are very different venues,” Chait says. “One can seat 200 and one can have an audience of more than 2,000.”
— Lynn Miller
Hairspray, Plays-in-the-Park, Capestro Theater, Roosevelt Park, Route 1 South, Edison. Wednesday, July 13, to Saturday, July 23, 8:30 p.m. No show on Sunday, July 17. Musical. Bring a chair. $7. Cindy Chait of West Windsor performs the role of Velma Von Tussle. 732-548-2884. www.playsinthepark.com.
