Lucky me. For my birthday, my husband took my daughter and me to see Hairspray. If he had asked me what I wanted to see I would have said Young Frankenstein. But am I glad he did the choosing. My daughter has wanted to see Hairspray for a long time. She has the original Broadway cast album and the movie on DVD. She knows every song and was even more excited to be seeing it than I. I have to admit, this is the best musical of it's kind that I've seen. I would compare it with Mama Mia which is incredibly entertaining and fun but Hairspray tops it with the most clever sets and effects that I've seen. It won eight out of the thirteen Tony awards it was nominated for.
As you probably know, Hairspray is the musical adaptation of the 1988 John Waters film, who by the way gets Consultant billing in the playbill. (John Waters had a cameo in the recent "Hairspray The Musical" movie as a flasher. And yes, there is a flasher in the stage show.)
The story is about racism in Baltimore (John Waters' home town) in 1962, but it is also a story of accepting people for who they are, no matter what color they are or what they look like. It focuses specifically on the integration of a teenage dance program called "The Corny Collins Show"*. Tracy Turnblad loves the show and her dream is to be a dancer on the show. However, she is faced with discrimination because she is overweight. Her mother, Edna Turnblad, is not only overweight but extremely unattractive. But her husband worships the ground she walks on. After all these years, despite the weight gain and aging, he is still madly in love with her and the number they do together "You're Timeless to Me" is so endearing and moving while also being hilariously funny. Tracy, unlike her mother, has enough self-confidence, personality and charisma to not only be instrumental in racially integrating the show (her favorite day is the once monthly "Negro Day" on the Corny Collins Show) but to attract the hottest, most popular guy on the show. So while the main plot of the musical is racism, size acceptance is the secondary plot.
Newcomer to Broadway, Shannon Durig, did a superb job as the bubbly Tracy. She played the part with great enthusiasm and her voice was great. Her dancing was limited but high-spirited. She was good at spinning and did a lot of it. I found her very appealing.
Edna Turnblad was played by George Wendt of tv's "Cheers" fame (he played Norm). Physically, he was perfect for the role of the overweight, unattractive, cariature of a woman which is what the role calls for. The fact that her husband Wilbur, played brilliantly by Tom Rooney, adores her for the lovable, wonderful person she is, is conveyed by and is the reason why a male actor in drag always plays the character. Everytime Wendt was on stage I roared with laughter and I must admit it wasn't long before I forgot it was a man playing the part.
In the role of Link, the teen idol of the "Corny Collins Show" who is trying to get his show business break, was Ashley Parker Angel. He was wonderful in the role, gorgeous, great singer, great dancer, great appeal. My daughter was gushing because we had watched him on a reality show called "Making the Band" which eventually evolved into the boy band "O-Town". I have to admit I was doing my share of gushing as well.
Of special note was a character actress named Susan Mosher who played multiple parts and was a standout in every scene she was in.
Another standout was Darlene Love as Motormouth Maybelle. Yes, THE Darlene Love, the rock and roll legend (she also played Danny Glover's wife in all four "Lethal Weapon" movies). Her voice could knock your socks off. She sang "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" a song about being happy with the way you are, and "I Know Where I've Been". She was outstanding and still quite a beautiful woman after 40 years in the business.
Also of note were Ashley Spencer, a finalist in America's "Grease, You're the One That I Want" playing Amber, Niki Scalera as Tracy's doddy best friend, Penny Pingleton, Naturi Naughton as Little Inez and Tevin Campbell as Seaweed. Spencer was quite good as Amber, Scalera played the ditzy friend to perfection and Naughton and Campbell were both fabulous dancers.
The show opened with an overhead of Tracy (Busby Berkley-style) in bed singing "Good Morning Baltimore" with ovals of dancers in silhouette behind her. And of course the ending was a happy, uplifting one, girl gets boy, everyone gets along, peace on earth with the entire cast and audience celebrating to "You Can't Stop the Beat". A fabulous evening, one I'll never forget.
*There was actually a dance show called "The Buddy Dean Show" on the air in Baltimore in the 60's which Hairspray is loosely based on. However, the producers of the show chose to cancel the show rather than integrate it.
6 comments:
Great review! What do you mean Shannon Durig's dancing was limited? Meaning the role was or she was limited? Just curious!
Hi Jeanne,
Thanks for your comment. Shannon Durig was adorable but I don't think she had a lot of dance training so she was limited in her capabilities. The choreography accommodated whatever capabilities she had. She was good at spinning so she did a lot of it. The spinning became her "signature". At any rate, whatever limitations she had were far outweighed by her stage presence and terrific voice.
Interesting! I saw the show several times and I also saw the understudy as Tracy as well. I think it was the choreography because all the Tracy's seemed to spin! LOL! I do agree though that her voice is spectacular and she seems to LOVE the part! I am glad you had fun! I am a Hairspray FANatic as you can see! There are so many celebrities in it it is fun to see it every so often just to see who is in it THIS week! Imagine THE BEAVER playing Wilbur! Who'd of Thunk???Thanks for sharing your Take on it!
Unfortunately I missed Jerry Mathers' performance but Tom Rooney's Wilbur was superb. I'm assuming you saw the Broadway production and that Shannon Durig was the understudy at the time. She now has the lead as Tracey and it is well deserved. I can't say I was a Hairspray fanatic before I saw the Broadway production. I enjoyed the soundtrack but it wasn't one of my favorites, and the movie was cute, not great in my opinion. But the Broadway production with its wonderful scenery and staging is phenomenal.
I enjoyed reading this review, thanks for posting! I do just want to clear something up though. Shannon has actually had over 20 years of dancing experience, starting from the time she was merely three years old all the way throughout her time on broadway. I really don't find her to be limited in her capabilities at all. I know that part is just an opinion, but I did want to clear up the confusion about her experience in dance. I'll also agree with what Jeanne said about the limitations being primarily part of the choreography, as I've seen two Tracy understudies perform, multiple times. They both did a lot of "spinning" as well, however their dancing was far inferior to Shannon's. Thanks again for the great review!
Hi bway love,
Thanks for your comment. Since I wrote the blog I have seen another actress in the part of Tracy who also did a lot of spinning so I understand now that it was the choreography and not Shannon Durig's capabilities. Don't get me wrong, I thought Shannon was delightful as Tracy but as a former professional dancer it appeared to me that the choreography was tailored to the actress's ability. Maybe I over-analyzed it. But I do appreciate your comment and am so pleased that you enjoyed the blog.
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