Hairspray Will Have You Singing When You Wake Up the Next Morning

This article was published in the Triangle Review on 17 November 2022.

I woke up this morning humming "You Can't Stop the Beat," the hit song written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for the 2002 hit Broadway musical Hairspray, playing now through Sunday, Nov. 20th, at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It wasn't just the music that was in my head. Images of the actors in the Tuesday-night performance of this romantic comedy by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters' 1988 film, were singing and dancing across my mind as well. This can only make for a good review.

I had never seen the film or the play before, so I had no biases as I took my seat in the DPAC auditorium last night and watched the lights dim onto a Baltimore, MD, girl lying in a vertical bed, dreaming of becoming a singer and dancer on local television's Corny Collins Show. From the start, Niki Metcalf makes it clear that she isn't just hefty on the outside -- she has a hefty voice as well. Metcalf captures main character Tracy Turnblad's energy, optimism, and determination in a manner invoking a star performance in Annie.

The bed becomes a house front, which turns into a city, which draws down to the television studio of The Corny Collins Show, all against a backdrop of illuminated technicolor circles changing patterns and shapes. My favorite backdrop was when the actors shadow-danced simultaneously in vertical and horizontal squares, reminiscent of the popular 1960's game-show Hollywood Squares. Scenic designer David Rockwell and video designer Patrick W. Lord deserve a big round of applause.

Likewise, Billy Dawson is impeccable as the extroverted and groovy host of The Corny Collins Show -- his voice clear as a bell and his character clearly made for television in a way that made me think of Elizabeth Banks' portrayal of Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games. When I watched scenes from the 2007 Hairspray movie, I found myself thinking Dawson should have been cast in the role.

Thanks to lighting designer Paul Miller and choreographer Robbie Roby -- not to mention the multi-talents of the large cast -- the lighting and choreography were top-notch, seamlessly integrating with the actors' matching movements and voices. Most impressive was the quality of vocals that the actors created as they jumped and twisted about in energetic West-Coast-swing and rocking Motown dance moves. The costumes, designed by William Ivey Long, follow suit as the lighting changes from pastels to electric blues and the atmosphere evolves from ordinary white privilege to the delightful array of personalities and dancing styles that come from inclusion and racial integration.

Ryahn Evers and Addison Garner play Amber and Velma Von Tussle with expert comedic wickedness, though I would have preferred if their direction had been more toward light-hearted caricature than the mean-spiritedness that comes through. Nick Cortazzo's portrayal of Link Larkin subtly reveals Link's human anxieties and general good will in the face of what at first appears to be narcissistic television fame -- something his crooning, vibrato-laden voice seems to parallel. And Emery Henderson's portrayal of awkward, well-wishing Penny Pingleton is both endearing and chuckle-producing; and her songs are cute and catchy in a way that makes you want to hear them again.

The African-American trio The Dynamites (Syndey Archibald, Melanie Puente Ervin, and Jade Turner), Seaweed J. Stubbs (Charlie Bryant III), and Motormouth Maybelle (Sandie Lee) play and sing their Motown-drenched roles with talent and heart that brings the house down.

Andrew Levitt's performance as Edna Turnblad is comically campy, but not so much that you don't have to look twice to convince yourself that she is actually played by a man. And I was thrilled when Ralph Prentice Daniel revealed that he could sing as well as act in his role as Edna's husband, Wilbur Turnblad.

I would mention every actor by name if the cast weren't so huge, which just demonstrates how well director Matt Lenz and this team have navigated the complexity of this production. But I'd be loathe not to mention musical conductor Julius LaFlamme, associate conductor Charlie Yokom, and their talented band of musicians -- it was easy to forget that the musical accompaniment was being performed live, which is exactly what these guys are going for.

DPAC's performance of Hairspray leaves you feeling young at heart, with renewed faith in the belief that the future will improve on the present, a feeling that is often difficult to muster these days. You can get your faith renewed for the rest of the week by attending one of the remaining shows (Nov. 16-20).