Hairspray Review

I saw a matinee of Hairspray the other day and I really enjoyed it. Hairspray, based on one of my favorite John Water’s films, is about racism in Baltimore in the 1960’s. It focuses specifically on the integration of a teenage afternoon dance program called “The Corny Collins Show.” (Side note: This is loosely based on a true story. There was a dance show like this on the air in Baltimore in the ‘60’s, only the producers chose to cancel the show rather than integrate. The movie and musical have a happier ending.) The movie stars Ricki Lake as Tracy Turnblad and Divine as her mother, Edna. Tracy loves the "Corny Collins Show" and wants to be one of the dancers, but she faces a little discrimination of her own. Tracy is overweight. In the end, the show is integrated and Tracy gets the boy. The musical version focuses more on discrimination of any kind. The main plot of the musical is racism, but size acceptance is the secondary plot, including the song "Big, Blond, and Beautiful".

The opening number ("Good Morning Baltimore") was great. The scenic designer captured the essence of Baltimore. I lived there for awhile and, with minimal sets, Baltimore was presented to you on the stage. A street was created with set pieces that looked like townhouses. The fake stone fronts of these townhouses are very specific to Baltimore. I also laughed very hard as she greeted the wino and the rats in her morning walk, recognizing the number of times I did that myself.

Overall, the music was fun and lively. Much of it sounded the same, but a few of the numbers stood out, particularly a duet between Tracy’s mother and father. Michael McKean recently took over the role of Edna Turnblad, originated onstage by Harvey Fierstein. I love Michael McKean and he did an excellent job in the show as the insecure, overweight protective mother. (I have to say that I can’t walk in high heels as well as he did.) He did use a somewhat raspy voice which echoed his predecessors in the role, but his lover’s duet, “Timeless to Me,” with Dick Latessa brought down the house. Mr. McKean is a much better singer than Harvey Firestein (as some of you will remember from A Mighty Wind and Spinal Tap) and here he and Mr. Latessa are clearly having a ball. (Full list of musical numbers)

The dancing, as you might expect from a show about teenage dancing, is terrific. Chester Gregory II was outstanding in the role of Seaweed. His dancing was wonderful. I wonder a little bit about the dancing choices for Carly Jibson who is now playing the lead role of Tracy. In the show, Tracy learns dance steps from Seaweed and has such natural talent that she is not only put on the TV show, but also in the end, beats her beautiful rival, Amber. Unfortunately, I found that Ms. Jibson’s dancing was sub par. None of her dances seem to be done with the precision and skill of everybody else’s. She had a great deal of energy, but there was a lot of excessive wiggling, like a puppy. I wasn’t sure if this was a character choice or if Ms. Jibson was unable to dance as well as the rest of the company, so that the added energy wiggles were put in to compensate. I will say that she had a wonderful voice and stage presence and you could not resist liking her. She was delightful to watch.

Overall, I found this a delightful way to spend my afternoon and enjoyed the show immensely. A quick note on the theater itself, the Neil Simon Theater has a nice rise on the ground floor, so that even though I was in the second to last row, I could see the stage with no trouble.

(Review of the Sunday, June 13, 2004 matinee)