BWW Reviews: HAIRSPRAY Tour Is Still Campy, High-Energy Fun

The 1960's were certainly a turbulent turning point in American history, a decade of social upheaval that has shaped the nation so significantly, that it's hard to fathom that it was just a little under 50 years ago when such openly disagreeable behavior was the norm. While some may argue that tensions between races still exist, the fact that a modern audience can look back at these past events with a knowing sensibility (and be able to laugh about it all, to boot) is an encouraging, wonderful thing. HAIRSPRAY, the high-energy, laugh-a-minute musical now back on stage at The Orange County Performing Arts Center (thru April 11) shines a light on race relations during the early part of this volatile decade with a wonderfully delicious storyline, that is sprinkled with campy fun, an infectious score and a sensational cast that is beaming with joy (even when singing a love ballad behind bars or a tearjerker of a gospel anthem).

The eight-time Tony® Award-winning musical—a huge, crowd-pleasing hit that arrived on Broadway in 2002—was adapted from John Waters' cult 1988 film of the same name. With the help of the brilliant songwriting team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the musical went on to win the Best Musical Tony, and deservedly so. The songs are pure ear candy, with witty lyrics that deserve multiple listens to take in its sheer comic genius. Add to that the peppy choreography of Jerry Mitchell (recreated on the tour by Danny James Austin). Eight years later, the stage musical (later also adapted into a film version in 2007 starring John Travolta) is still a thrilling, enjoyable theatrical experience. With the multi-year national tour about to come to an end, the show is noticeably compact from previous tour incarnations (the songs, the sets, and the staging feel somewhat truncated from their fuller, original versions), but the boisterous merriment is still quite present. By the time we get to the extravagantly dazzling finale of "You Can't Stop The Beat," you'll be wishing the beat doesn't, in fact, have to stop.

It's 1962. Baltimore, Maryland. Young, giddily rotund Tracy Turnblad (played by the sweetly effervescent Danielle Arci) is a high school student with really big dreams (who doesn't at that age?), really big hair, and a wide-open mind. She and her socially-awkward best friend Penny (scene-stealing Amber Rees) are big fans of the local dance show The Corny Collins Show—a daily pop music and dance showcase (with a once-a-month "Negro Day" for rhythm and blues). Both teens' mothers are, of course, expectedly disgusted by such televised "vulgarity."

But plucky, determined Tracy decides to audition to be on the show against her Mother Edna's wishes. Plus, the added bonus of being a Corny Collins dancer? It will also give her the perfect opportunity to get closer to the object of her crush, Link Larkin (charmingly aloof Ryan Rubek). Eventually, proud Edna (played by Greg London, spectacularly funny) changes her own mind when Tracy, to everyone's surprise, becomes a featured dancer on the show, angering Link's girlfriend Amber (Erin Sullivan) and her mother Velma (Colleen Kazemek), the show's producer. Though met with resistance because of her weight and her defiant stance that racial integration is "the new frontier," Tracy sets out to right a long-standing wrong with the help of new friends Seaweed (Richard Crandle) and his mom Motormouth Maybelle (Debra Thais Evans).

Besides the memorably terrific score ("Welcome to '60s" is among the many standouts) and a winking, tongue-shoved-in-cheek book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, HAIRSPRAY succeeds in pushing a "message" theater piece in the guise of a gut-busting, hysterical musical comedy. Stereotypes aside, such material is served best by a game, spirited cast, and this ensemble delivers. Carrying on the tradition of Waters' original film—SPOILER ALERT for newbies (!) Tracy's mother is always played by a male actor—London achieves sweetness and vulnerability in his portrayal of the maternally-protective Edna. His adorable geriatric duet with Mark A. Harmon (who plays Edna's goofy husband Wilbur) is a sugary-sweet pleasure to watch. Evans' 11 o'clock anthem "I Know Where I've Been" is a gospel-tinged showstopper. And as our plump heroine Tracy, Arci turns in a believably strong-willed, bravura performance that straddles a fine line between achingly funny and achingly heart-tugging. The entire ensemble glows in their collective smiles.

As history has proven, it often takes just one voice (in this case, a big one) to stir the status quo and to entice a generation to stand up for the disenfranchised. The fact that one such story is packaged with a highly-entertaining, vivaciously droll bow, makes HAIRSPRAY all the more... still... a fun, welcome experience to take in.

Grade: A

Photos of the National Tour Cast of HAIRSPRAY by Chris Bennion

Local OC Gal Gets 'Peachy': HAIRSPRAY Cast Member Teanna Berry talks with BWW about her role in the national tour. CLICK HERE

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HAIRSPRAY performances continue through April 11 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Tickets to see HAIRSPRAY start at $20 and are available online at OCPAC.org, at the Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714.556.2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 15 or more, call the Group Services office at 714.755.0236. The TTY number is 714.556.2746. The 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, April 10 will be sign-language interpreted.

For more information, visit OCPAC.org. The HAIRSPRAY tour web site can be found at hairsprayontour.com.

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