Hairspray (2008 non-Equity U.S. tour: New Haven)

I hadn't actually realized that this was a significantly scaled-down non-Equity production when I got my ticket, so I was a little startled, especially since the pictures on the website had the full set.  Given good casting, the show is hard to kill, so the bare-bones set didn't matter too much.  I was more disturbed that they trimmed a number of the songs by a verse or two (yes, I know the soundtrack well enough to notice) and that the choreography has been redone.   But I badly needed the theatrical production to scrub the problematic recent film version from my brain, and it did accomplish that fairly well.  I was also pleased to find myself in a theater with a large cohort of screaming teenagers, presumably lured in by the film.

So, first a few thoughts about this production in contrast with the original Broadway version.  Then a few rants about the idiocies of the filmed version.

The leads ranged from satisfactory up to magnificent.  I knew coming that this was not going to be what I saw on Broadway, where I was thoroughly spoiled by the first cast led by the spectacular Marissa Winokur and the majestic and gravel-voiced Harvey Fierstein.  But I thought Amy Toporek (Tracy) was excellent and was very pleased by Michael Walker's turn as Edna - other than the voice, he did very well in recreating Fierstein's look and style.  I wouldn't have wanted him to fake the voice; his was just fine.  He was a bit better a dancer, too, though that's not really a requirement in the role.  Angela Birchett as Motormouth Maybelle was also a vocal standout, though I really could live without all the rhyming couplets (the fault of the book, not the actress).  Birchett is so fair-skinned that from my perch in the back balcony I could barely tell she was black, and the usual startling contrast with the blonde wig was pretty much a wash.  I'm not sure there's anything useful to be done about that, and she certainly carried the role vocally and with great stage presence.  The three Dynamites were also dynamite; "Welcome to the '60s" was fabulous.  And Sharon Malane as Penny Pingleton, while not as vocally strong as the sultry-voiced Kerry Butler (Broadway cast), hit her two big moments to effectively sell Penny's transformation from nerdy and nervous to the girl who could sing

...and now I've tasted chocolate and I'm never going back!

while throwing Seaweed flat on his back and jumping on top of him, and

...if they try to stop us, Seaweed, I'll call the N-double-A-C-P!

where it was very obvious who exactly was in charge of that relationship.  Tracy has an element of that with Link as well - it's nice to see young women's healthy sexual appetites as relationship drivers!  My only objection was that at the end she was leaning forward too much on the shoulder-shimmies - really, the breasts jiggle quite noticeably in that move, and it isn't necessary to bend over double to give the audience a show.  Don't try so hard!

Katie Donahue made a delightfully self-centered bimbo as Amber.  Taylor Frey was appropriately pseudo-Elvis as pretty boy love interest Link Larkin.  (I continue to wonder what Tracy sees in a pretty-but-dim boy like him, though!)  Arjana Andris was comical in a triple bill of frustration as Prudy Pingleton and the two "lesbian menace" roles of the gym teacher and the prison matron.  Greg London (who does not appear to be the Making Light regular in disguise, though you never know) alternately thundered and minced as the principal and Mr. Pinky.  Marsena Bowers was perfect as precocious singer Inez, though quite the raunchy dancer for a preteen role!

I was somewhat less pleased with a few others.  Jacqueline Grabois had the vocal chops for the wicked Velma, but occasionally while singing she would slip into a baby-talk sound more appropriate to Amber or maybe Miss Adelaide.  Donell James Foreman as Seaweed was a good actor, but I felt not quite as strong vocally as the role called for.  Perhaps it was the sound balance, but an awful lot of "Run and Tell That" didn't come through well.  Jarret Mallon  as Corny also disturbed me vocally, though it's hard to put my finger on why; something about his sound just irritated me.  And Dan Ferretti was actually a little too goofy as Wilbur Turnblad, though he made up for it in his big number with Edna in "Timeless to Me", which was beautiful.

The staging was bare-bones but acceptable, and the production did at least keep the glorious William Ivey Long costumes.  The wigs, needless to say, were spectacular.  The dance chorus members were excellent, easily the equivalent of Broadway.  The wealth of singer-dancer double-threat talent in the world is both thrilling and depressing - all these kids and so few will ever get out of minor roles in touring productions.

Dancewise, I was mystified to find "The Madison" in this production, as I distinctly remember being startled by its absence from the Broadway show.  Am I misremembering somehow?  I suppose I'm pleased, since the Madison is the ultimate Baltimore dance and really, really, really belongs in the show. Re-choreographer Danny Austin (a Stratford alum whom I've seen in The Boyfriend and Cyrano de Bergerac) did a reasonable job of incorporating Madison moves into his choreography.  It wasn't the perfect reconstruction of the original (non-musical) Waters film, but it was recognizable and pleased the dance historian in me.  The rest of the choreography had recognizable links with Jerry Mitchell's B'way original, especially in the big finale.  I was also, as noted above, very pleased with "Welcome to the '60s".

I wanted to see this production, despite normally avoiding touring versions of favorite Broadway shows, because last year's film version ticked me off in at least three major ways, doubly annoying because in so many ways it was an incredibly well-done film musical.  I was sorry they cut "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" and "The Big Doll House" from the film, along with several bits of business presumably too offensive for the audience they wanted (Seaweed doesn't pull out a condom, Velma skips the crotch-grabbing of the teenaged boys, etc.), and I was annoyed that they made Inez Miss Hairspray at the end.  The dancers are lip-synching, or sometimes not even bothering to lip-synch.  But these are fairly trivial.  So bear with me for a bit while I vent about the three elements of the film that really ticked me off:

First, the problem with casting big-name adult actors in a teenage film is that then you have to do something with all those big names.  So when we got Christopher Walken as Wilbur and Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma and John Travolta as Edna (more on that in a moment), the movie immediately tilted in a very bad direction.  While I thought Walken was a fine Wilbur, more sensitive and less goofy than the stage version, I did not want to see Pfeiffer play seduction games with him.  Aside from being wince-inducingly stupid in a plot context, that whole scene was just wrong for her character and wrong for the whole balance of the film.  If a big-name star can't handle being cast in a secondary role with one big star moment (each of the adults gets one in the musical), they shouldn't take the role.  Rewriting the book to give them extra screen time was a dreadful idea.

Second, Travolta as Edna was a disaster.  Edna is a drag queen role.  In the original Waters film, it was played by Divine, for goodness' sake.  Travolta is not playing a drag queen; he's playing a straight woman, and it makes a travesty of the role.  Sure, he's mildly convincing as a woman, but that's really not the idea!  And as a result, we lose all the gender-ambiguity jokes ("No, this isn't her father") that depend on the male voice and the awareness that this is a man.  Travolta couldn't carry those off: he's too busy playing a woman to play a man playing a woman.  And characterwise, Edna is not a timid little mouse; she's a world-weary cynic.  Tracy doesn't free her from fear, she frees her from cynicism.  When she drags Travolta out of the house, he cowers.  A true Edna makes a beeline for the wiener stand for a snack!  Edna achieves her own dream: she finally designs her own dress and brings down the house coming out of the giant hairspray can; Travolta loses the whole "wanted to be a dress designer" element and just gets out there and shakes his tush doing different moves from the teenagers and breaking the entire visual balance of the big final dance.  I would have loved to see the recently rather overweight Travolta play a drag role, but seeing him buried in prosthetics playing a straight woman was just pathetic and completely undermines the entire concept of Edna.

Third, the musical has an all-around happy ending, damnit.  The whole concept of reconciliation via music and dance ("You can't stop the beat!") extends to every character.  Prudy Pingleton gives her blessing to a proud Penny and Seaweed.  But not in the film - the two of them flee when they realize they're on television.  Even the Von Tussle women are finally dragged into the collective rejoicing:

Ever since we first saw the sun
It seems Von Tussle girls are always trying to please someone
So we're gonna shake and shimmy it and have some fun
Today
You can't stop the beat!

But not in the film!  In the touring production at least (can't recall the Broadway one's details well enough), Amber actually gives Tracy the Miss Hairspray crown and they hug at the end.  But not in the film!  What, did they think a reconciliation wasn't realistic enough?  Or that the bad guys are required to be unrepentant and outcast at the end?  Aren't they listening to the lyrics?

Ah, well.  It could have been worse.  But I'm glad to see the stage version again.

Ever since the whole world began
A woman found out if she shook it she could shake up a man
So we're gonna shake and shimmy it the best that we can
Today
You can't stop the beat!

The original Broadway cast at the Tony Awards:

Comments

[Serge]

Travolta couldn't carry those off: he's too busy playing a woman to play a man playing a woman.

I've never seen any of the stage productions, but, now thta you mention it, I'd have loved to see Fierstein(*) as Edna. Travolta? To me, that was a gimmick.

As for Michelle Pfeiffer, she's getting typecast playing evil you-know-whats, isn't she? That's a shame.

----------

(*) His character in Independence Day was the only one I gave a hoot about, and he was in it too briefly.

[Susan de Guardiola]

Well, you can see a teeny bit of Fierstein in the video I embedded at the bottom. It's very blurry, unfortunately, but you can hear The Voice.

Having watched some other Ednas on Youtube (where there are clips from the London cast and the current Broadway cast), I have to say that Michael Walker actually outshines all of them but Fierstein. Too many of the others are just mugging and playing it over-the-top goofy; they haven't grasped the concept that the character is funnier if played perfectly seriously - just trust the material! The over-the-topness is gloriously inherent when played by Fierstein, and Walker captured much of the same quality.

On Pfeiffer, I thought she was quite good as Velma, we just didn't need so much of her. And she could actually sing, though of course that's a simpler task in film where you can dub in the vocals afterwards and modify them in the editing process as needed. It's a much bigger task to sing while actually acting and dancing in front of a live audience.

Unfortunately, I think this tour winds up next month in San Francisco and Dallas.

[Serge]

they haven't grasped the concept that the character is funnier if played perfectly seriously

That reminds me of how Cary Grant never won a single Oscar in his long career. After all, he was mostly famous for comedies, and it's easy to be funny, right? Right. Well, much as I loved old-time actors like Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas, they were terrible in comedies. I'd watch their performance and think "This character knows he's in a comedy". Well, as Edmund Gwenn is supposed to have said, "Dying is easy, Comedy is hard".

Gone a bit off-topic, I know.

[Marilee J. Layman]

I have a copy of the Waters' Hairspray and I don't plan to watch the new version because of Travolta playing Edna straight. I complained about this elsewhere and was told it was just a different interpretation, but it isn't -- it's a major plot change.

[Susan de Guardiola]

Marilee:
Absolutely. Walken as Wilbur in the film was a different interpretation. Travolta as Edna was a disgrace to both the original film and the musical.

If you ever have a chance to see the stage show I'd be curious to hear what you think. I suspect serious fans of the original film might have some problems with it. (I've seen the original film, and enjoyed it, but am actually more fond of the stage musical.)

[Janice]

I agree, but i did end up loving the film. i was saw this same cast play in Boston a month ago, and Zac Efron as "Link" in the move doesn't even compare to Taylor Frey in the touring cast. He was so vocally on and his dancing was fantastic, not to mention gorgeous. It made the show so much more fun to watch.

[Raven]

I actually didn't mind the film the first time I saw it, because I liked the way they handled the musical numbers. I also saw it with my sister, who's exactly the demographic they were aiming for.
Even so, I totally agree-Travolta was a far cry from the original, and Taylor Frey was loads better than Zach Effron.

[Susan de Guardiola]

Raven & Janice -
I'm not ignoring you, I'm just sort of empty of response. I barely notice Link as a character in general, so Zac Efron didn't make a big impact on me one way or the other. Maybe an age gap is showing? :)

(I still say: what does Tracy see in him? He's practically the male version of a pretty bimbo!)

[Serge]

the male version of a pretty bimbo

Is there such a thing as a male bimbo? A bimbo, as I understand it, is a woman primarily defined by her looks and her sexuality, and she can't harm you. Any man who'd be deemed extremely attractive in the way men are usually are defined would be physically strong and so would not harmless.

But I know what you mean.
I'm just splitting hairs.

[Susan de Guardiola]

"Pretty boy" or "boy toy". Usually associated with wealthy older partners of either gender. It's a different way of being attractive than the classic "macho" look. One could call it softer or (to use a stereotype) more effeminate, but I'm not trying to suggest anything about his sexuality. I suspect there have been volumes written (in the context of anime/manga, for example) about the attractiveness of androgynous/pretty boys for preteen and possibly teenage girls. I agree that the various actors playing Link are quite attractive (if not really my type or - gawds - age range), but the character strikes me as vacuous.

ObSF: last week's Dr. Who episode, "Silence in the Library", in which David Tennant's Doctor is referred to as "pretty boy", much to his bemusement.

[Serge]

David Tennant's Doctor is referred to as "pretty boy", much to his bemusement

I can well imagine. Goofy, yes, but pretty?

[Susan de Guardiola]

A lot of women - myself included - find him quite attractive! But no, pretty boy isn't the term that comes to mind.

[Serge]

Oh, I agree, about Tennant. There are actresses about whom I feel the same way: not pretty, not gorgeous, but very attractive.

[Susan de Guardiola]

Tennant is hot. Just saying. Wonky ardor is attractive. (I almost called my blog Wonky Ardor before deciding to use a funny word instead.)

[Serge]

Interested in a Tennant look-alike?
http://pics.livejournal.com/serge_lj/pic/00044rxh/g29

[Susan de Guardiola]

Not enough of a lookalike for me!

I am currently indulging in a crush on Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. I am morbidly aware of who he looks like. (Though Downey is much more buff!)

[Serge]

My wife's current crush is on Clive Owen. Mine? Gabrielle Anwar. Be still, my heart, especially since the new season of "Burn Notice" doesn't start until mid-July.

[Susan de Guardiola]

I have no idea who those people are. :)

[Serge]

Owen was in the recent Kate Blanchett movie about Queen Elizabeth, and was the main character in "Children of Men" and in "King Arthur".

As for Anwar... I know her mostly for her role in sort-of spy series "Burn Notice". Her character is funny, especially when she takes over her boyfriend's kitchen to make a batch of explosives as if she were baking a cake.

Should you be interested, here's a link:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000270/

[Susan de Guardiola]

Movies...television...me...the usual handwaving.

[Serge]

Oh, I know that, but most of this stuff IS available on DVD. Still, I should stick a mental post-it inside my brain that you don't really watch much of either even on DVD. Or off the internet. (I was supremely bummed when I realized that the SciFi Channel may be airing Doctor Who, but it's not making the episodes available on its site. This means that I missed the first 4 episodes of this new season.)

[Susan de Guardiola]

Yeah, but I'm already devoting almost an hour per week to watching Doctor Who, which is significantly more watching than I usually do and really more than I can justify! Any other watching would have to come out of my sleep, which is already down to five hours a night or less.

You could get the first four episodes the same way the rest of us are, of course, rather than depending on SciFi.

[Serge]

Five hours of sleep? That's about what I usually get, which is how my youngest cat managed to escape from the house in the middle of the night. She eventually decided that being alone in the dark was not a good idea.

I went to BBC America's site and couldn't find the full episodes. When you have a moment, could you send me an email describing how you do it? Thanks.

[Serge]

Got the instructions.
Thanks!

I'll finally find out why, in the one scene I caught, the Titanic is seen flying thru space. Hmm... That makes me wonder if someone working on the show ever read Stephen Baxter's Xeelee novels: one has Brunel's Great Eastern rebuilt down to the most minute details, and kept in space.

[Susan de Guardiola]

I often get five hours, but I really need six or seven and have some insomnia problems where being tired doesn't seem to particularly relate to going to sleep or staying asleep. So I'm chronically sleep-deprived.

I'm glad your kitty returned.

[spray the love]

Hi there :o)

I'm glad you liked our tour of Hairspray. I was a member of that ensemble, and I was also the Dance Captain, so it warms my heart to know that you thought the dancing was clean and wonderful. I would like to point out that Danny James Austin actually used Jerry Mitchell's choreography. We (the Dance Captains) actually learned the show from Broadway's Associate Choreographer (Jerry Mitchell was on to other projects, so she (the associate) and Danny were in charge of the Broadway Company). Whatever we did on tour is what Jerry changed the Choreography to when he and Danny Austin set the London West End production. (There were small things Jerry wanted changed from BWAY, so they set on us, and made the change in London...and if they liked something in London, Danny came and set it on us, but it was small changes because Jerry's choreo was flawless for that show). You also saw the show in a venue that didn't allow for the entire set to be used due to backstage space and stage width/depth issues. Unfortunately that's what makes non eq non eq...NOT talent.

I am now a member of Actors Equity Association, and was given my card when I got cast in a Broadway Show. Just know that when most non eq tours go out on the road, they have all the pieces of the puzzle on those trucks. Usually, it's the SAME set as the Equity First National uses. Its up to the theater's size as to weather or not all the pieces will fit and give you the AMAZING production that you (and the CAST!) want to see/show.

Also, The Madison was in the Broadway production, and we did it exactly the way they did it on Bway. If there's a verse cut out (from any song) we skip and go to the next piece of choreography in that verse. There were a few things that were recreated choreographically venue to venue that happened if, for example we didn't have the towers for Good Morning Baltimore and Without Love, or if we didn't have the holes in the stage for the boys to jump over in Nicest Kids in Town, so they jumped over the girls.