Ryan ChartrandBeyonce, Jennifer Hudson and the rest of the “Dreamgirls” cast can step aside. Tracy Turnblad and company are in town.
A touring company will perform the Tony Award-winning musical “Hairspray” today at 8 p.m. in its last of a three-night stint at the Performing Arts Center.
The play brings the audience back to 1962 Baltimore, as Tracy, Link, Seaweed and all the other cool kids sock-hop their way through a musical montage extravaganza made for the era and learn some life lessons along the way.
Tracy Turnblad, (Brooklynn Pulver), starts the show off with a rousing number titled “Good Morning Baltimore,” that catches the audience’s attention immediately, and sets the tone for the rest of the high-energy dance numbers packed into the two-and-a half hour songfest.
Tracy is a big girl with a big heart who has even BIGGER hair. She has her heart set on becoming a dancer on “The Corny Collins Show,” the most popular teen dance program on television. However, her family and her friends run into problems, reflective of the time period, along the way.
The problems that surface revolve around civil rights issues, racial equality, segregation and racism. At the same time, there is flood of compassion and caring, which both seem to overshadow the horrible sentiments that travel throughout the play.
Pulver said that this is the important theme that needs to recognized.
“It’s a very timeless story line that really breaks down to acceptance,” she said.
Tracy tries out for the show, accompanied by her best friend Penny Pingleton, (played to a tee by Alyssa Malgeri), but encounters prejudice because of her weight. But does she let that stop her? No, because this girl can dance, dance, dance.
Tracy also encounters discrimination. The show’s producer, Velma Von Tussle, (Happy McPartlin), wants to keep the show to an all-white dynamic by refusing to let any blacks become dancers.
Tracy is angered and vows to right the wrong and integrate the show.
Finding a silver lining among the dark clouds, Tracy sees and immediately falls head-over-heels for wannabe Elvis-in-training Link Larkin (Constantine Rousouli). While he at first puts on his bravado and makes fun of Tracy. However, he soon realizes that he likes her as much as she likes him.
There is just one thing standing in their path, Link’s steady girlfriend, Amber Von Tussle (Pearl Thomas) whose goal is to win the all-important dance contest.
This immediately puts Tracy and Amber at odds, competing for the not only the title but also the same man.
Amber’s mother, Velma Von Tussle finds a way to stop all the impending action. She calls in the cops and has everyone arrested. Tracy cannot compete against Amber and the show is not integrated.
Several characters are wonderful standouts throughout the entire production.
Penny Pingleton is the little girl with the big voice. She belts out tunes like they were nobody’s business.
Ryan Cordero, a theater senior who saw the performance Tuesday, said if he had to pick a favorite character, it would be Malgeri’s.
“I’m partial to Penny. I think she was awesome,” Cordero said. “Her character, voice and singing were incredible . She has got a powerful voice and she seemed like she was having a great time up there.”
Other incredible performers included Edna Turnblad (Jerry O’Boyle) who did a fantastic vaudeville-esque-type number with husband Wilbur Turnblad, (Dan Ferretti). By the end of the number, the audience was eating it up. Edna even started to lose it to a bout of barely contained laughter and the crowd went wild with adoring applause.
O’Boyle spoke fondly of the moment.
“We try to do something like that in every performance,” O’Boyle said. “It’s not hard to laugh at that point in the show.”
Theater senior Lester Wilson, who also saw the play Tuesday night, said he found the Edna/Wilbur dance number very entertaining.
“There was great comical timing, especially in the scene between Edna and Wilbur,” Wilson said. “That was just really amazing.”
Cordero said his impression of the show was one of absolute success.
“The energy, the singing, the dancing, you’ve got to give it your all when you’re up there and that’s what they did,” he said.
Of course, everything has a nice tidy ending. That was refreshing to see considering the underlying perverse elements.
Tracy and Link are happy. Velma gets her just desserts. The show becomes integrated. It all works out for the best.
In the final dance number, Tracy faces the audience at the end and brings the musical to a local level. She looks at the crowd and yells: “OK, Mustangs, let’s dance!”
Pulver said the show is sure to be a crowd-pleaser for everyone.
“It is definitely a show for all ages; a good show to bring the whole family to,” she said. “Kids enjoy it because it is so bright and colorful while older people enjoy the adult humor.”
From here, Pulver said the tour will travel overseas for the first time ever.
“We will be heading for Japan after we are finished with this leg of the tour,” Pulver said. “We are very excited because it will be the first time the show plays there.”
Let’s hope that this is one traveling musical that will never go out of style.