Access Atlanta > Arts > Our Reviews > Archives > 2005 > February > 16 > Entry
‘Hairspray’ has too much lift
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “Hairspray.” Through Feb. 27.
Good morning, Atlanta. Corny Collins, your host of Baltimore’s hottest ’60s dance show, reporting that ”Hairspray” is finally here. Yes, the 2002 Broadway smash — which used drag mamas and chubby adolescents to make its producers ”hear the bells” of ticket sales — has wiggled and strutted itself into the Fox Theatre for a two-week run.
OK, Corny. Maybe my mousse has come loose. But I left this thinly plotted pink-and-turquoise confection feeling as if I’d ingested several bags of cotton candy, a mountain of chocolate, a dozen banana splits and several gallons of lemonade. Overrated and overdesigned, ”Hairspray” feels like the musical that didn’t know when to push itself away from the trough.
John Waters’ charmingly off-kilter 1988 film has been inflated into a glitzy spectacle for mainstream consumption. Make no mistake: ”Hairspray” is preposterous good fun. Any show in which an overweight Cinderella squashes blond bigots to integrate a sock hop — and get her man — can’t be all bad.
Yet unlike the most original of recent musicals (”Avenue Q,” ”Urinetown,” ”Caroline, or Change”), ”Hairspray” is repetitious and almost never surprises. Its integrationist theme is oversimplified and relentlessly cute. And in the case of this national tour, the message that big girls are beautiful verges on the grotesque.
In the urban fairy tale scripted by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, teenager Tracy Turnblad (Keala Settle) wants African-Americans to be a regular part of ”The Corny Collins Show.” Much to the chagrin of the program’s producer and her daughter, Tracy becomes the show’s star and captures its No. 1 heartthrob, Link Larkin (Austin Miller).
Meanwhile, Tracy’s best friend, Penny Pingleton, falls for Seaweed J. Stubbs (Alan Mingo Jr.). Seaweed’s mother, Motormouth Maybelle (Charlotte Crossley), runs a record shop that’s an African-American hangout.
The Broadway original rested largely on the shoulders of Harvey Fierstein (Edna) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tracy). Fierstein never made us think he was a real woman, but his indelible rasp stopped the show. (”Hey Tracy, hey baby, look at me, I’m the cutest chickie that you ever did see.”) Winokur had a lovable bounce that made us believe her character really could reverse a town’s racism by dint of her spunk.
Not so here.
With his strong comedic timing and a voice that invites comparisons to Ethel Merman and Rosie O’Donnell, John Pinette creates a womanly Edna that’s distinctly his own. In William Ivey Long’s outrageous costumes, he grows on us, as it were. But Settle, who wears a fat suit that seems to inhibit her expressiveness, never summons the authority or cuddly nature that’s required of Tracy.
By far the standout performances are those of Mingo, Crossley and Stephen DeRosa (who plays Edna’s joke-shop owner husband, Wilbur). Mingo’s voice and his ”Peyton Place After Midnight” dance are silky and seductive. Crossley, one of Bette Midler’s Harlettes, is a first-class gospel belter. And DeRosa is a born clown — think Groucho meets Roberto Benigni — with a marvelous voice.
Someone — I believe it was Jerry Herman — once remarked that ”Hairspray” was not the first show to turn drag queens into mainstream Broadway stars. (That was Herman and Fierstein’s ”La Cage Aux Folles.”) ”Hairspray” was the first one to do so — and make money.
A crowd-pleaser that won eight Tony Awards, it is sweetly nostalgic and amply entertaining. But it doesn’t elevate the form. When done poorly, it’s as loaded with empty calories as junk food. This particular production — which retains Jack O’Brien’s direction, Jerry Mitchell’s choreography and David Rockwell’s sets — is a case in point.
Could it be time for a stomach staple?
THE 411: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 2 p.m. Saturdays. 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Through Feb. 27. $27-$66. Broadway in Atlanta, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-817-8700, www.foxtheatre.org.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Theater
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Roxanne Nahf
February 16, 2005 11:53 AM | Link to this
This review is RIDICULOUS! I was part of the paying audience at last night’s opening of HAIRSPRAY at the Fox in Atlanta. I also saw it in Seattle long before it opened on Broadway. I again saw it just after opening on Broadway with it’s original cast.
This National Touring Production of HAIRSPRAY is 1st class. The audience LOVED it. Everyone around me couldn’t stop commenting on how fantastic it was. The audience jumped to their feet and cheered as soon as the bows began. Why? Because the performance were terrific. The music was out of this world! The talent in the Fox Theatre last night was awesome. This tour is as good as it gets folks. Don’t let this review fool you into missing one of the best night’s you’ll ever have in a theatre.
SHAME ON WENDELL BROCK…..Obviously he doesn’t represent the vast numbers that attended last night’s opening. His review is a joke. The Atlanta Journal shouldn’t have a person like Wendell Brock on payroll. This review is irresponsible.
EVERYONE SHOULD SEE THIS SHOW. IT’S SO GOOD, I PLAN TO SEE IT AGAIN BEFORE IT LEAVES ATLANTA.
ROXANNE NAHF