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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Reviews
Hairspray Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan Reviewed by Kate Barry Entire contents are copyright © 2009, Kate Barry. All rights reserved. The current trend on the Great White Way right now is to take movies from the big screen and adapt them to the stage. Times are tough and seats need to be filled. In some cases the attempt has been bizarre like Shrek The Musical and The Wedding Singer. Other times, utterly laughable tries have been made like Legally Blonde and Cry Baby. But Hairspray got it right. It holds the right amount of John Waters' signature camp, catchy music and uplifting messages to make you want to see it over and over. And I'm glad MTL chose it for this season. The curtain rises on "Good Morning Baltimore," which throws us into Tracy Turnblad's world. Complete with hair reaching toward the sky and high hopes of dancing on a local Baltimore television show, Sydney Magers was the optimistic teeny-bopper heroine. Along with her pipsqueak sidekick, Penny Pingleton (played by the adorable Hillary Horvath), Tracy is determined to dance her heart out. There are a few hurdles for her to overcome of course. This is a musical after all; happy endings take at least two acts to happen. The major hurdle for Tracy is bigotry and judgmental behavior. Her main enemy is racist television producer Velma Von Tussle, played with delicious wickedness by Jill Plappert-Higginbotham. A stage mom who wants her bratty daughter played by Erica Maryman to outshine all the other dancers on the show, Velma's goal for personal gain is seeped in racism and Plappert-Higginbotham portrays the villainess with great style. Tracy's other hurdle is her mother, just like any other teenage girl. She wants to dance and her mom simply won't allow it which means she wants to do it more. A side note, if you have seen the original John Waters' film, you know that Tracy's mother is played by Divine. Sure enough, the role of Edna Turnblad in the stage production is played by a man as well. Bo Cecil stole the show as Mrs. Turnblad, a woman who hasn't stepped outside of the house in years because of her own personal weight insecurities. With Tracy's help, Edna over comes her personal fears of what others might think and ends up on television as well. The role of Motormouth Maybelle was played by MTL favorite Gayle King. Her rendition of "I Know Where I’ve Been" earned some standing ovations from my fellow audience members. Katelyn Bowman exhibited plenty of spunk as Little Inez, Maybelle's youngest daughter, who demands integration. Little Inez's older brother is Seaweed J. Stubbs played by Jermaine Brown who sings the high spirited "Run And Tell That." I would be a fool to not mention the dancing in this show. "The Nicest Kids in Town," "Welcome to the 60's" and "The Big Doll House" were major crowd pleasers that show the strength of the young energetic dance ensemble. Truly, each of the dancers in the ensemble was a star. Even Edna and her husband share a dance together in the darling number, "You’re timeless to me." "I Can Hear the Bells" combines comedy and choreography as Tracy pines after the love of her life, Link Larkin played by Chad Broskey. And then of course, there’s the finale of the entire show, "You Can’t Stop the Beat." A finale indeed, the entire production builds up to this number which bursts on stage like hairspray out of a can. When Hairspray first opened on Broadway, I was very pessimistic because of the transferral of film to stage. After seeing the touring production and then MTL's version, my doubts quickly vanished. I carried the same skepticism when I heard this year's season of Music Theater of Louisville would be at The Bomhard Theater at Kentucky Center for the Arts. There are some good things about the move which I quickly realized: no bugs, not a single bad seat as the theater is stadium-style and no chance of cancellation due to rain. Because MTL is geared toward family fare, I got to sit in front of a child who talked throughout the production. I had to giggle to myself because I wondered how her parents would explain Edna Turnblad. Regardless, Hairspray at MTL doesn’t skip a beat.
Hairspray July 31 - August 9, 2009 Tickets: 502.584.7777
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