NEW YORK - With the opening of Broadway debut of "Hairspray," Marissa Jaret Winokur had a lot on her mind.

After all, as the show's leading lady, she belts out a dozen songs in the frothy musical adapted from the 1988 John Waters movie. Then there are all those lines to remember. Ditto dance steps. And there's the matter of getting tickets for friends and relatives.

At the moment, however, the 29-year-old actress was fixated on fashion. After she took to the stage mid-August to star as Tracy Turnblad, a tubby 1960s Baltimore teen-ager (played by Ricki Lake in the movie) whose passion for dancing changes her hometown, there was the opening-night party to consider. Who could blame her for wanting to look perfect.

She described her dream dress as "something fun and sweet and not too slutty. I think that would send the wrong message. I'm not Tracy. But there's a lot of me in Tracy. But it can't be too sexy."

An outfit designed by Ady Gluck-Frankel of Necessary Objects fits the bill - as well as the actress' ample, plus-size figure.

Winokur makes absolutely no apologies for being overweight. Los Angeles-based vocal coach Eric Vetro observed that attitude while working with her for nearly two years during the show's development. Much of that time, she was 35 pounds heavier than she is now.

"When most girls gain a pound, they go crazy," says Vetro. "Not Marissa. When she gains weight, she doesn't hide out in tents. She wears tight clothes."

In fact, Winokur delights in keeping a list of adjectives that have been used to describe her in the role. They include "chubby," "hefty," "dumpling-shaped," "dimple-kneed" and "thick in the ankles." Co-star Harvey Fierstein, who plays Tracy's mom, coined that last euphemism.

"People don't want to say the word 'fat,'" says Winokur. "But being fat has never slowed down me down in my work."

Winokur grew up in Westchester, N.Y., the youngest of four children. Her father was an architect. Her mom was a teacher. Both are now retired and live in New Mexico. Her acting ambitions began about the time she saw "Evita" on Broadway at age 6.

"If ever a girl had a goal, Marissa was it," recalls retired music teacher Don Walter, who taught at Fox Lane Middle School in Bedford, N.Y. "It was theater, even in junior high school. She had a big, strong voice with a lot of luster. When she was onstage she was totally in command."

"It's just something I always wanted," says Winokur. In fact, if she wasn't doing community theater or listening to Ethel Merman on the cast album of "Annie Get Your Gun," she was cutting school on Wednesdays to see a Broadway matinee. "My father would come with me," she confesses. "We'd see a matinee and a show at night, too."

After high school, Winokur studied acting at a two-year conservatory that she disliked so much she won't name it. At 21, she landed in the national touring company of "Grease!" and stayed for 3-1/2 years - understudying a supporting role, then assuming the part and eventually playing it on Broadway.

When the show closed in 1998, she went to Los Angeles to be in "Grease!" castmate Lucy Lawless' wedding. Winokur stayed in L.A. and played small parts in two 1999 movies, "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" and "Never Been Kissed." Recurring roles in TV shows including "Dharma & Greg" and "Moesha," and other TV guest spots followed.

Winokur's most memorable performance came in the movie "American Beauty," as the fast-food worker who informs Annette Bening's unfaithful character, "You are so busted."

The part was tiny, but she connected with producer Dan Jinks, who tipped her off about "Hairspray" early in its development. She was the first to audition for the role of Tracy. Back then, she couldn't have known that it would become a $10.5 million musical with an advance sale greater than $10 million.

"I know it's a good show," she says. "But the Jewish girl in me still worries. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like the show is on my shoulders. If my energy is down, I think everyone's will be down. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed I want to cry. My dresser calls my dressing room Napa Valley because there's so much whining going on."

Except for the moment at a preview performance last week when George Lucas, Rob Reiner and Francis Ford Coppola all arrived backstage at the same time to wish her well.

"My dresser and I were just pressed up against my costumes," says Winokur. "Just the idea of these three men coming to see me to compliment my performance was so surreal. I know I'm the star of the show and that I take the last bow, but I'm really more of an ensemble actress."

She was, anyway. On opening night, this supporting player stepped out of the chorus - and into the spotlight. Just like in an old-fashioned Broadway musical.