BWW Reviews: Welcome Back to the 60s: HAIRSPRAY at Toby's Baltimore

It's a safe bet that anyone going to see a revival of Hairspray nowadays will have a pretty good idea what to expect.  We have seen John Waters' original 1998 movie, the oft-revived 2002 Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman musical based on the movie, and the 2007 film of the musical.  With all these Hairsprays, the characters (Tracy Turnblad and her mother Edna, Velma von Tussle and her daughter Amber, Tracy's best friend Penny, and Tracy's boyfriend Link, among others) are all permanent parts of our culture.  Nor is it likely that a new production of Hairspray will give us something new.  Instead what we as theatergoers ask of any Hairspray production is for it to be familiar and fun.

It's a strange place for a work so transgressive a mere 14 years ago to have ended up.  But somehow we've got to the point where John Waters' original sendups of racial, social, and sexual taboos have become theatrical comfort food, safe for dinner theaters.  It got to that point by delivering so much enjoyment every moment that no one could possibly resist.  There is a funny lyric, cunning bit of stage business, amusing dance, or just wonderful music, going on from the opening to the curtain.  You watch it with a constant grin from one end to the other.  And every time you see the show, it's like that, if done properly.  Comfort food.

So be it. The criterion for the success of a Hairspray revival is whether it is as enjoyable as all the other Hairspray revivals.  Not a demanding criterion, necessarily, though the bar does go up a little over time, and not just because we've seen it before.  Like everything else, it becomes more of a period piece (I mean turn-of-the-century, not 1960s) as fewer and fewer members of the audience are going to get jokes like "a half-filled book of Green Stamps, beyond redemption" or referencing how many people have "handled" the Gabors (the Kardashians of old).

The current incarnation of the show at Toby's Baltimore mostly meets the criterion. 

There can be no criticism of the cast. Celia Blitzer (Tracy), a short stick of dynamite, pivots around in tennis shoes somehow making physical comedy out of her low center of gravity and her bubbly demeanor.  Elizabeth Rayca breathes the required fire as the hateful Velma, the doomed protector of the old order.  Amanda Kaplan as Penny, all flailing skinny elbows and knees and a flaming red wig, is a great physical contrast and spiritual companion to Tracy.  Kelli Blackwell brings full church choir dynamics to the anthem I KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN, which is the main thing the Motormouth Maybelle character exists to do.  The portrayal of Edna by Lawrence B. Munsey is outstanding; more than any other Edna I've seen, Munsey brings out the femininity and vulnerability of the character without sacrificing her drag queen strut at appropriate moments.  And mention of these performances is no aspersion on the others.

One can also praise the costumes by Mr. Munsey, especially Edna's finery after she sheds her dowdy housecoat (another period joke that will resonate less over the years).  And one can likewise praise Mr. Munsey's direction, because he wears all these hats (I also saw him mixing drinks at the bar).  He is a man (except when he's being a woman) of many talents.

The Achilles heel here is the sound design, which simply lets down the songs.  When Ms. Blackwell was singing at the top of her lungs forty feet from me, I could hear her just fine, but frequently could not make out the words.  This kept happening throughout the show.  My companion had the same problem.  This is no minor matter, because in a show where you're supposed to have something to grin about every moment, where the lyrics are unintelligible, a lot of those somethings drop out, like what you hear when there's a bad telephone connection.  Enough missing pieces, and damage is done.

Of course most of us know most of the lyrics, and most of the time it was possible to deal with the dropouts.  But it demoted what should have been a bubbly champagne sort of experience to perhaps the fun of a good mug of beer.  It was a good mug, though.

And besides: what true Baltimorean can ever get enough Hairspray, or, for that matter, beer?  Welcome back to the 60s.

Hairspray, Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Directed by Lawrence B. Munsey.  Through July 1 at Toby's Dinner Theatre of Baltimore, 5265 O'Donnell Street, Baltimore, MD 21224.  410-649-1660.  www.tobsysdinnertheatre.com.  Tickets $50.50-$56.00.  Mild adult content.

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