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| Home > NYC > "Hairspray" Can't Stop the Beat! |
| "Hairspray" Can't Stop the Beat! | | Date Created: Jul 28, 2005, 01:11 AM |
 I must admit it took me forever to warm up to the idea of seeing "Hairspray" on Broadway. Whether it was the subject matter, the idea of it coming from a low budget film, or the thought of seeing Harvey Fierstein in a dress, something about the show did not appeal to me when it first premiered, despite the fact that it lit Broadway up like a storm. Heck, I'd even gotten a freebie demo soundtrack in the mail, which I promptly trashed, figuring I'd never see it. There were too many other things going on. Besides Broadway shows are expensive!
Then my boss started leaving me hints. She would drop in a discount code for the show in my inbox. Or send it to me via email. She had seen an early preview of it and was convinced that everyone would enjoy it. Since my Jen and I tend to see many shows, she wanted us to put it on our must list... Which we did, but... there was Spamalot, Lennon and a few other things at hand... Then I heard from my niece Jennie about her impending visit to NYC, and I knew I could hold off no longer. This show sounded like the perfect thing for a tourist, I thought. Little did I know, it would win me over, as well.
This bubbly, happy, hip, show with a message is one of the best productions of anything I've seen in a very long time, and that comes right on the heels of seeing "The Producers". The music was right up my alley - Rock and Roll from the early 1960's. Ambling along like a second cousin to Broadway's "Grease" and sister to "Little Shop of Horrors", the musical succeeds in joyfully telling it's tale of a plump young girl and her dreams for stardom, and how those dreams transform her little town of Baltimore. Though based on a non-musical movie, this is a show that demands a movie be made of it!
Taking over Fierstein's High Heeled Hijinks was Bruce Valanch, who I didn't really like from the New Hollywood Squares, but who was so funny and charming in his first scenes (he plays the MOTHER!), that I totally believed in him as a character, and not as a gender. The show is about tolerance, and accepting people for who and what they are, in the race torn era of the early 1960's. An added plus, was 60's singer Darlene Love, as a soul singing Mama, and an hysterical Jm J. Bullock (also formerly of TV's Hollywood Squares and Too Close for Comfort), who played many smaller roles to comical perfection. Now THIS is a musical you can bring your family to, and everyone will have a rollicking time. I have rarely had so much fun at a show before, and I really wonder where the cast gets all of its energy from!!!??
To get an idea of the bouncy proceedings, head on over to the Official Site for sound clips, scenes, and the groovy details.
Who said Broadway shows can't be fun? If you grew up in the Sixties, or wish you were, this is the show for you... |
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