Review: HAIRSPRAY Welcomes the '60s to Broadway Sacramento!

Good morning, Sacramento! Hairspray has brought the beat to town, and you do not want to miss this spectacle of bright, brash, and beautiful 60s splendor! Based on the 1988 John Waters' movie that became a cult classic, Hairspray opened on Broadway in 2002. It garnered 13 Tony Award nominations and took home 8 wins, including Best Musical. Its staying power rests with the timeless music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and enduring themes woven throughout the book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan.

Hairspray follows the story of Tracy Turnblad (Niki Metcalf), a chubby high school misfit with the dream of making it onto the Corny Collins Show. Metcalf oozes teen angst as she tries to convince her mother, the large-and-in-charge Edna Turnblad, that she has the talent to audition for television. Edna is played by Andrew Levitt, who is known for winning the title of Miss Congeniality on RuPaul's Drag Race as his alter ego, Nina West. Levitt's personable Edna undergoes a huge metamorphosis as she evolves from a mousy housewife with a mullet to a confident, Lucille Ball-esque fashion maven. Tracy's improbable love interest, Link Larkin (Nick Cortazzo), is a teen heartthrob who has it all but must decide if he wants to pursue Tracy and affect social change or pursue his dream and lose his integrity.

Hairspray begins with inspiring nostalgia for a simpler time, when having hairspray and a radio were enough to please. Then, we become aware that those really weren't easier times. Tracy and her friends are fighting for integration on television, where "coloreds" and whites can dance together every day and not just on monthly "Negro Day." She and her friends have the same relationship issues with their parents that teens today have and they deal with body shaming just as we do now. The show resonates with audiences for the universal battles it presents as well as the immortal soundtrack featuring favorite staples. "Welcome to the '60s," "The Big Dollhouse," "(You're) Timeless to Me," and "Good Morning Baltimore" are numbers that will keep you fixated, dancing, and wanting to come back for more. The show's most recognizable song, "You Can't Stop the Beat," is an anthem for anyone who has ever felt like a misfit and a promise that progress is unstoppable. Coupled with energetic choreography by Robbie Roby and effervescent orchestral conduction by Julius LaFlamme, Hairspray is an inspiring and triumphantly bold splash of must-see fun and fervor.

Hairspray plays at Broadway Sacramento through March 19. More information and tickets may be found by visiting BroadwaySacramento.com, by calling (916) 557-1999, or at the Box Office at 1419 H St. in Sacramento.

Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel