Hairspray

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Hairspray

Playwright – Book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Mark Shiman. Based on the film written by John Walters.

Production Company/Theatre space – (Community) Painted Fish with The Costume Shoppe / Cite de Rocheuses Theatre.

Length – 2 Acts (1 hour, 55 minutes, one intermission)

Genre/s – Musical

Premise – A girl, teased for being plus sized, wants to dance on a television show, win the guy, and racially integrate the TV dance program.

Why this play? Why now? – A known musical with a big cast.

Curiosities – Why didn’t music cover the brownouts and set changes? Is this show as timeless as other shows of this genre?

Notable Moment – The 1960’s TV scenes were fun.

Notable writing – Twenty-three years ago the show was on Broadway and won Tony Awards, but it hasn’t aged as well as some of its contemporaries. Having the young white savior mobilize a black community is cringy today. However, the songs are firmly entrenched in the music theatre repertoire and will live on, if not the stage, as audition pieces and in Broadway cabaret shows.

Notable performances – This community uses the trick of double casting in alternating shows. This ensures that there are always understudies and twice the number of adults and children wanting to perform get their time on the stage. I saw The Flattops cast version (vs The Beehives) (my QR program link didn’t work, so I hope I have the right names…) Madz D’Agnillo as Tracy Turnblad, the play’s lead, does a great job. Aura Musasiwa as Seaweed J Stubbs is charismatic and one of the strongest singers. Jay Gallant as the show host is suitable slick (and has the best show biz jackets!).

Notable design/Production – Sara Brodsky had a lot of performers to costume. Presumably this is where The Costume Shoppe, as a co-producer, played a starring role. 28 volunteers worked on these shows - that’s a lot of hard work.

Notable direction – I wasn’t sure if Marian Hamilton (who is also co-executive producer and orchestra conductor) and Jeremy Ballantine worked together with both casts or divided and conquered. Except for the clunky scene changes, everything seemed to run smoothly. With 55 total performers, this is one of the biggest community undertakings in Calgary!

One reason to see this show – This show is for all of the community it serves and the proud moms, dads, and family members who can come and see their loved ones, having fun, learning skills, and contributing to the magic making of live theatre.