[NEohioPAL] Review of "Hairspray" at Beck Center for the Arts

[Bob Abelman]

The nicest kids in town carry Beck Center's 'Hairspray'

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald 7/15/11

 

 

Hairspray is a spritz of aerosol in the wind; an airy, uplifting musical comedy that takes hold on contact.  

 

Based on a low-budget nonmusical film by king-of-camp John Waters, the stage version of Hairspray shares the storyline of a big girl with big dreams against a backdrop of the civil rights movement in 1960s Baltimore.  Tracy Turnblad lives to dance and, despite her unfashionable girth, unpopular parents and liberal views, lands a spot on a local TV teen dance program, which she helps integrate with her high school detention buddies. 

 

One of the campy conventions that made its way from celluloid to stage is casting Tracy's Mom, Edna, as a man in drag.  However, with its lightweight book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, upbeat music by Marc Shaiman, and playful lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray was transformed into a rollicking, pop-rock infused good time. 

 

The musical's original Broadway production, which opened in 2002 and ran for over 6 years, won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. 

 

Under the direction of Scott Spence, The Beck Center for the Arts' production places particular emphasis on the good time vibe and is at its best during the rollicking ensemble numbers that feature its talented core of dancers and singers. 

 

The company flat out nails Martín Céspedes' breezy, high-energy choreography, belts with enthusiasm to the accompaniment of Larry Goodpaster's superb orchestra, and works as a disciplined, unified whole.  Their zeal is contagious, particularly during "The Nicest Kids in Town," "Welcome to the '60s," "Run and Tell That" and "You Can't Stop the Beat."

 

Talented and energetic also define most of the featured players.  Matthew Ryan Thompson as Corny Collins, host of the TV dance program; Tina Stump as Motormouth Maybelle, host of the program's "Negro Day;" Antwaun Holley as her son Seaweed; Alexis Floyd as his sister Little Inez; and Anna Bradley as Penny Pingleton, Tracy's best friend, are absolutely wonderful. 

 

In fact, Stump's "Big, Blonde & Beautiful" and "I Know Where I've Been" are show-stoppers.  



The tender duet "You're Timeless to Me," between a hilarious and pleasantly understated Kevin Joseph Kelly as Edna Turnblad and a thoroughly charming Mark Hefferman as Wilbur Turnblad, is delightful.  Kelly and Hefferman have great chemistry, which allows for the man in drag gag to play out as a fun part, rather than a defining feature, of this play's festivities. 

 

While Spence excels at filling Ben Needham's wide-open stage space with well orchestrated group activity, other scenes are less well developed and less disciplined.  

 

The entire jail cell scene at the start of Act 2 is a bit of a mess.  Here Tracy and friends are imprisoned when it is learned she intends to integrate the TV dance program.  The set is situated deep in the back of the stage, where Céspedes' most inspired choreography is lost in the distance and Spence's attention to detail takes a hit as actors breech and awkwardly move around imaginary prison bars.   

 

Brittany Eckstrom-a gifted, adorable but relatively undemonstrative Tracy-is regularly upstaged by ill-timed expressions of Little Inez's hyperactivity and Penny's spasticity during her musical numbers.  They mean well, but draw attention when all eyes should be focused on the lead. 

 

Laurel Held and Sharon Pearlman as Velma and Amber Von Tussel, the snobbish producer and the featured female dancer on the TV program, serve as the counterpoint to all the rollicking good times in this show.  Unfortunately, they are too tepid to carry this off effectively, particularly Held during her rather flat "Miss Baltimore Crabs" number.  

 

Cody Zak as hunk Link Larkin, Tracy's love interest, offers little to love.

 

Coupled with microphone and spot light mishaps, these challenges would be more problematic if not for the saving graces of the ensemble, the otherwise strong featured players, and the sheer exuberance that defines this production.  These flaws are nonfatal distractions in a show that rides the jet stream of aerosol entertainment, and rides it well.  

 

Hairspray runs through August 14 at the Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  For tickets, which range from $10-$28, call 216-521-2540 x 10 or visit www.beckcenter.org.

 

 
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