Connecticut Repertory Theatre Opens HAIRSPRAY, 4/25

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present the smash-hit Broadway Musical Hairspray, April 25 - May 5, 2013 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the Storrs campus. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre will close its main stage season with the Broadway hit Hairspray, music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman, book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan.

Move over Baltimore! Storrs is the new home for Tracy Turnblad, the big girl with the big hair and the even bigger passion - to dance! It's 1962 and Tracy wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show." Overnight Tracy is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can an unconventional trendsetter in dance, music and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Hairspray, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, is a family-friendly musical piled bouffant high with laughter, romance, and deliriously tuneful songs. Kevin Meaney, one of the country's most popular standup comedians and an Emmy Award winner stars as Edna Turnblad.
Tracy Turnblad, a "pleasantly plump" teenager from Baltimore ("Good Morning Baltimore"), rushes home to watch The Corny Collins Show and discovers they are looking for new teenage dance star. Tracy, knowing this is her chance to be famous, begs her mother, Edna, for permission to audition. Edna refuses because she is afraid that Tracy will be made a laughing stock because of her weight ("Mama I'm a Big Girl Now"). Tracy's father, Wilbur, encourages her to follow her dreams and Tracy decides to audition only to be rejected because of her size by the show's producer Velma Von Tussle.

When Tracy meets black dancer Seaweed J. Stubbs (son of Motormouth Maybelle, played by Tina Fabrique, the host of "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show), she learns several new dance moves that ultimately get her a place on the show. Tracy quickly becomes a local celebrity and gets an endorsement from Mr. Pinky, the owner of a plus-size dress shop. Tracy uses her new-found fame to rally everyone to stand up for black equality on the show.