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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Lightweight
‘Hairspray’ holds up just fine at Fine Arts<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
American Theatre Critics Association <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
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align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">on
6/8/12</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In the wide spectrum
of storytelling that is musical theater, “Hairspray’s” tale about a heavyset
girl with big dreams leans toward the lightweight.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The theatrical
equivalent of a spritz of aerosol in the wind, this airy and energetic musical
comedy, currently playing at the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby, boasts of
numerous Tony and Drama Desk Awards.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Those awards, including Best Musical of 2003, paid tribute to the show’s
simple and fast moving book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, upbeat and
accessible pop rock music by Marc Shaiman, and playful lyrics by Shaiman and
Scott Wittman.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They also
acknowledged a very talented ensemble of players, which happens to be the strong
suit in the FAA production.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Based on a low-budget
nonmusical film by king-of-camp John Waters, “Hairspray” places teenager Tracy
Turnblad against a backdrop of the civil rights movement in 1960s Baltimore.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Tracy lives to dance and,
despite her unfashionable girth and unpopular liberal views, lands a spot on a
local TV teen dance program.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She
takes a stand and helps integrate the show with the aid of her high school
detention buddies and her best friend, Penny Pingleton. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Diedre Davis is
wonderful as Tracy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She is the kind
of natural performer that you can’t take your eyes off of during her featured
songs—which are plentiful in a play that offers at least one musical number per
scene.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Davis could steal the show
if not for the equally gifted players that surround her.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">As Penny, Alexandra
Wells is a delight.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>An amalgamation
of gangly and flailing limbs, Wells’ Penny is the perfect counterpart to Davis’
Tracy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Only after falling in love
with Seaweed Stubbs from the other side of the tracks—played by an equally
delightful though less expressive Jerry Shepherd—does Wells’ character transform
and her skills as a singer and dancer are showcased. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Erika Acquaviva and
Emmy Stowell are the Von Tussels, the snobbish TV producer mother and the
self-absorbed featured dancer daughter, respectively, on the “Corny Collins
Show” who serve as the counterpoint to all the rollicking good times in this
musical. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They, too, are wonderful,
particularly when their characters relish in their efforts to cut Tracy down to
size.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Acquaviva flat-out nails her
character-defining “Miss Baltimore Crabs” number, and Stowell is stellar in
everything she does.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">So, too, is J.J.
Luster as Tracy’s love-interest.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Luster plays heartthrob Link Larkin with a delicious wink and nod, and
sets the bar for dance performance.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>He gives life to Pierre-Jacques Brault’s high-energy but low degree of
difficulty choreography, as do most members of the TV show’s teen council, most
of the corps of detention denizens, Dominic Fedele as Corny Collins, and Sierra
Johnson as Little Inez. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">One of the
inexplicably campy conventions that made its way from celluloid to stage is
casting Tracy’s Mom, Edna, as a man in drag.<SPAN style="COLOR: black"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The role is traditionally played to the
hilt by actors who shop at the Big and Tall Men store, which accentuates the
situational absurdity of a Kennedy-era guy in a dress and serves as a
never-ending source of physical humor and sexual innuendo. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Director James Mango, whose production is
filled with great choices and creative staging, drops the ball by casting the
short Tom Hill to fill Edna’s large shoes. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Though
game and really quite adorable in a frock, Hill’s small stature does not
generate the presence the role requires and he seems hesitant to own the stage
when the moment calls for it, which it does in the musical numbers “Welcome to
the 60’s,” “Big, Blonde & Beautiful,” and “You’re Timeless to Me.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Partnered with an </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">understated<SPAN
style="COLOR: black"> and seemingly uncomfortable Paul Sloop as Edna’s husband
Wilbur in an atrocious bald-wig, the two merely shimmer when given ample
opportunities to shine.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Shining
is not a problem for Lynette Turner, who grabs her moments by the throat as
Motormouth Maybelle, Seaweed’s Mom and host of the TV show’s “Negro Day.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her Act 2 anthem “I Know Where I’ve
Been” is a show-stopper.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">All
this activity takes place amidst Drew Lupson’s attractive albeit bare boned
scenic design, in D. Justin Bilewicz III colorful costuming, and is supported by
a superb on-stage orchestra under John Krol’s direction.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Microphone
problems plagued the opening weekend performances, but the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">sheer exuberance of
the cast, the effervescence of the featured players, and the jet stream of
aerosol entertainment embedded in “Hairspray<SPAN style="COLOR: black">”
persevere.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is a
fun-filled community production of a big,frothy musical comedy.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“Hairspray” runs
through June 17 at the Fine Arts Association’s Corning Auditorium in
Willoughby.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For information or
tickets, which are $23 to $25, call 440-951-7500 or visit <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.fineartsassociation.org</FONT></A>.</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>