Next stop, Broadway for big, fun ‘Hairspray’
By Misha Berson
“It is one of many exhilarating moments of delighted cultural recognition
in the robust new show “Hairspray,” premiering at the 5th Avenue
Theatre before it moves to Broadway.
Like the 1988 John Waters movie that inspired it, “Hairspray”-the-musical
both spoofs and subverts the pre-fab teen dance-romance flicks of the
early ’60s — and a lot of other cultural totems of that era.
It also gleefully raids and sends up Broadway’s early attempts to appropriate
youth culture. A “Bye Bye Birdie” for the Age of Irony, this
is a retro-pop romp with wit, heart, a social conscience and, rarity of
rarities, a new score by composer Marc Shaiman and his co-lyricist Scott
Wittman that really makes you want to go dance in the streets.
Expertly assembled by director Jack O’Brien (“The Full Monty”)
and many other shrewd and loving hands, “Hairspray” is —
for my money — the zippiest and least synthetic or mawkish in a glut
of recent musicals spun off hit movies and Billboard backlists.
Hairspray”
is big, smart fun — splendidly performed with a score that bears
repeated listens. Hey, if New York doesn’t twist and shout about it, just
bring it on back.
Big fun abounds in witty, dance-crazed ‘Hairspray’
By JOE ADCOCK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER THEATER CRITIC
“Hairspray,” a new musical having its pre-Broadway tryout at
the 5th Avenue Theatre, is fun. Almost everything about it is fun: the
acting, the songs, the dancing, the story, the staging, the scenery, the
costumes and especially the wigs.
But in fact, the “Hairspray” characters are serious — seriously
ebullient. From the moment the lead character, Tracy, wakes up and sings
“Good Morning Baltimore,” it is clear that we are in for a strong
dose of optimism, good will, high spirits and wit.
So infectious is Tracy’s spirit that she inspires her depressed mother,
played by Harvey Fierstein, and her low-expectations best friend Penny
(Kerry Butler). Tracy and Penny acquire really cool boyfriends and some
energetic allies in the course of their righteous struggle.
