Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is an American musical with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters's 1988 film of the same name. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the production follows teenage Tracy Turnblad's dream to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show.[1] When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, leading to social change as Tracy campaigns for the show's integration.
For other uses, see Hairspray.Hairspray
Scott Wittman
Marc Shaiman
The musical opened in Seattle in 2002 and moved to Broadway later that year. In 2003, Hairspray won eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical, out of 13 nominations. It ran for 2,642 performances, and closed on January 4, 2009.[2] Hairspray has also had national tours, a West End production, and numerous foreign productions and was adapted as a 2007 musical film. The London production was nominated for a record-setting eleven Laurence Olivier Awards, winning four, including Best New Musical.
Productions[edit]
Original Broadway production[edit]
After a successful tryout at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, Hairspray opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on August 15, 2002.[8] Jack O'Brien directed the production, which Jerry Mitchell choreographed, with set design by David Rockwell, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Steve C. Kennedy, and the show's many distinctive wigs by Paul Huntley. The performances were conducted by Lon Hoyt, with approximately 15 musicians. The original Broadway cast included Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein as Tracy and Edna, respectively, Matthew Morrison as Link, Laura Bell Bundy as Amber, Kerry Butler as Penny, Linda Hart as Velma, Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Maybelle, Corey Reynolds as Seaweed, Jackie Hoffman as Matron, Dick Latessa as Wilbur, and Clarke Thorell as Corny Collins. Kamilah Marshall, Shayna Steele, and Judine Richard played the Dynamites.
Hairspray received Tony Award nominations in 13 categories, winning eight, including for best musical, book, score and direction. Winokur, Fierstein and Latessa received awards for their performances. The production ran for more than six years, closing on January 4, 2009, after 2,642 performances.[2] Thorell returned to the cast for the final ten months. Fierstein and Winokur returned to the cast for the final performances.[9][10]
Original London production[edit]
The West End production opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on October 11, 2007, for previews before its official opening on October 30. Michael Ball played Edna, with Mel Smith as Wilbur Turnblad, Leanne Jones as Tracy, Tracie Bennett as Velma, Paul Manuel as Corny Collins, Rachael Wooding as Amber, Elinor Collett as Penny, and Ben James-Ellis as Link. The original creative team of the Broadway production, with the director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, reunited for the London production.[11] The show garnered a record-setting 11 Olivier Award nominations[12] and won Best New Musical, as well as Best Actress and Actor in a musical (Jones and Ball).[13] The production closed on March 28, 2010, after nearly two and a half years and over 1,000 performances.[14]
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
It is June 1962 in Baltimore. Tracy Turnblad, an overweight high school student, wakes up ("Good Morning Baltimore") and goes to school, where she receives a warning for "inappropriate hair height". After school, Tracy rushes home with her best friend, Penny, to catch the local teenage dance show, The Corny Collins Show ("The Nicest Kids in Town"). Edna, Tracy's shy and overweight mother, is ironing and complains about the noise of the music coming from the television, while Penny's mother, Prudy, complains about it being "race music". After an announcement that auditions for a place on the show will be held because Brenda (one of the Corny Collins Council Members) has taken a leave of absence from the show for "nine months", Tracy begs her mother for permission to audition. Fearing that Tracy will be laughed at due to her weight, Edna refuses. Penny and Amber (the main dancer on The Corny Collins Show) have similar arguments with their mothers ("Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now").
After gaining permission and support from her father, Wilbur, Tracy auditions for the show and bumps into a teenage heartthrob, Link Larkin, which leads into a dream sequence ("I Can Hear the Bells"). Velma Von Tussle, the racist producer of The Corny Collins Show, rejects Tracy at the audition because of her size ("(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"), and rejects a black girl, Little Inez.
Back at school, Tracy is sent to detention for her "monumental hair-don't". There she meets black dancer Seaweed J. Stubbs (the son of the hostess of "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, Motormouth Maybelle), who teaches her several dance moves. She uses the new dance steps at the Sophomore Hop the next day to introduce herself to Corny Collins ("The Madison"). After Corny sees Tracy dance, he gives her a place on the show ("The Nicest Kids in Town" (Reprise)). During the broadcast, Link, at Corny's suggestion, sings "It Takes Two" to Tracy, much to Amber's dismay. After the show, Mr. Spritzer, the show's worrisome sponsor, appeals to Velma over Tracy's appointment to the Council. Threatening to fire Corny from the show, Velma is eventually left distraught and determines to ruin Tracy ("Velma's Revenge").
At the Turnblad house, Edna is receiving calls from fans who saw Tracy on the show. A call comes in from Mr. Pinky, the owner of a plus-size dress shop, for an endorsement. Tracy pleads with her mother to come with her and to act as her agent although Edna has not left their apartment in years. Finally making it outside, Edna is given a huge makeover ("Welcome to the 60's") and Tracy becomes the shop's spokes-girl. At school, signs of Tracy's fame are evident in the schoolyard, with graffiti on the walls and Shelly, another Council Member, sporting Tracy's signature hairdo. During a game of dodgeball, a jealous Amber knocks Tracy out, and Link rushes to her side. Penny and Seaweed, who have developed a liking for each other, rush to fetch the school nurse, only to find her out sick. Seaweed, suggesting that some fun would make Tracy feel better, invites all of them to his mother's record shop for a platter party ("Run and Tell That").
At the shop, Tracy rallies everyone to march against the station on the following day's Mother-Daughter Day, as blacks are not allowed on the show except on the monthly Negro Day. Before they start, Motormouth Maybelle convinces the initially reluctant Edna and Wilbur to march as well. Link declined to participate for the sake of his contract with the show. During the protest, led by Motormouth, Velma calls the police and fights break out. When the police arrive on the scene, almost everyone is arrested ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful").
Act II[edit]
After the march, most of the women are locked up in a women's penitentiary ("The Big Dollhouse"). Because of Velma's dirty tactics, the governor pardons and releases her and Amber. Wilbur bails out the rest, except Tracy, who is forced to remain in jail through another one of Velma's manipulations. Tracy is alone and wishes that Link could be with her ("Good Morning Baltimore" (Reprise)). Back at the Har-De-Har Hut (Wilbur's joke shop), Wilbur and Edna are left destitute because of the money it took to bail everyone out. Edna sympathizes with Tracy's dream—she had dreamed of making her "own line of queen-sized dress patterns". Edna and Wilbur reminisce about their past and how they can never be parted from each other ("(You're) Timeless to Me"). During the night, Link sneaks into the jail, where he finds Tracy in solitary confinement. As Link and Tracy reunite, Penny's mother, Prudy, punishes Penny for "going to jail without her permission" and ties her up in her bedroom, where Seaweed comes to her rescue. Both couples declare their love ("Without Love"). After escaping their respective prisons, the couples seek refuge at Motormouth Maybelle's Record Shop. Tracy thinks it unfair that after all their hard work, The Corny Collins Show is still segregated. They devise a plan to integrate the show, and Motormouth remembers their long fight for equality ("I Know Where I've Been").
On the day of the Miss Teenage Hairspray competition, Corny Collins starts the show with a song ("(It's) Hairspray"). Amber shows off her talents in a bid to get more votes from the viewers ("Cooties"). As the results are about to be announced, Tracy stuns Amber as she makes her entrance in a magenta dress without any petticoat underneath, taking over the stage, and is joined by Link, Penny, Seaweed, Edna, Wilbur, Little Inez, Corny, and Motormouth. Tracy is declared the winner of the competition. Amber and Velma protest the results, claiming that it is all wrong. Little Inez then tries to take the crown by force when Amber refuses to hand it over, but Tracy stops her, claiming that her heart is set on something more important: Link's and her future. She then proclaims The Corny Collins Show is "now and forevermore" racially integrated, to much applause. When all is announced, Spritzer runs onstage thrilled with the public's response to the telecast, announces that the governor has pardoned Tracy and given her a full college scholarship, and offers Link a recording contract and Velma the position of vice president of Ultra Glow – beauty products for women of color, much to her chagrin. Prudy arrives at the station and, seeing how happy Penny is with Seaweed, accepts her daughter for who she is. At the height of the moment, the company invites Amber and Velma to join the celebration. With the station in joyous celebration, Tracy and Link cement their love with a kiss ("You Can't Stop the Beat").
Instrumentation and chorus[edit]
Hairspray's orchestration calls for 15 musicians: two keyboards, the first of which is played by the conductor, electric bass, two guitars, drums, percussion, two trumpets, trombone, two woodwind players, two violins, and cello. The guitarists both double on acoustic and electric guitars, with the first playing lead and the second rhythm, and the trumpet doubles on flugelhorn; the original production also featured a piccolo trumpet double during tryouts. The first woodwind player doubles on tenor and alto saxophones and flute. The second woodwind player doubles on tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophones and flute, while the backup chorus calls for three males and three females.
In the original Broadway production, a few of the actors mimed on musical instruments in order to fulfil a minimum musician requirement at the Neil Simon Theatre.[72]
Touring productions often use smaller/reduced orchestrations to save on costs – the UK 2017/18 tour which used a 12-piece orchestration – two keyboards (Of which the first is played by the conductor), two guitars, electric bass, drums, percussion, two woodwind players (in which the second one is playing alto, tenor, soprano and baritone saxophones and flute), trombone and two trumpets and a 12-piece background chorus: six males and six females.[73]
Themes[edit]
Hairspray explores racial prejudice and freedom of expression. It highlights individuality, and the importance of everyone working together for something to become revolutionary. The musical is empowering, as although it touches on racial issues prevalent in 1960s America, it focuses more on the associated attitudes, and the power we have to change discrimination.[74] The musical encourages individuality, acceptance and freedom. It applies to any social context and time, as it highlights ongoing issues such as fat-shaming, racism and discrimination.[75] It also explores femininity. Notably, Edna Turnblad is performed in drag. Allowing a drag role adds queerness to the musical, which has no gay characters.[76] Edna is considered to be the non-racialized who is part of the story.[77] The musical also challenges societal norms of femininity. Edna's body size emphasizes the show's diva roles.[76] The musical highlights female characters who are strong and associated with diva characteristics.
Hairspray emphasizes issues of acceptance and discrimination within society.[78] Set in the 1960s, it highlights racial discrimination against African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on popular culture. The Civil Rights Movement gained African-Americans the right to vote, gave them a voice, and introduced freedom for all,[78] but African-Americans still experienced vast inequality during this time. This reality, of the whites holding all institutional and political power, is portrayed in Hairspray in The Corny Collins Show. African-Americans are allowed to dance on the show only once a month, and there is a stereotypical racial representation of dance style. The social representation in Hairspray parallels the reality of the 1960s. By the end of the show, African-Americans are allowed to dance on the show.[79] The show acknowledges the challenges and limitations enforced on African Americans during this time, and reminds audiences of the Civil Rights Movement's achievements. Its message can also be used to empower change for other forms of discrimination relevant in today’s society.[74]
Response[edit]
Critics[edit]
According to Variety, Hairspray received 13 favorable and four mixed reviews.[80] In his Variety review, Charles Isherwood wrote: "this sweet, infinitely spirited, bubblegum-flavored confection won't be lacking for buyers any time soon. Arriving in an aerosol fog of advance hype, it more than lives up to its promise."[81] Ben Brantley wrote: "So what if it's more than a little pushy in its social preaching? Stocked with canny, deliriously tuneful songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and directed by Jack O'Brien with a common touch that stops short of vulgarity, 'Hairspray' is as sweet as a show can be without promoting tooth decay. ...[it] succeeds in recreating the pleasures of the old-fashioned musical comedy without seeming old-fashioned. ...Shaiman... is taking the infectious hooks and rhythms from period pop and R&B and translating them into the big, bouncy sound that Broadway demands.... And while the savvy arrangements... nod happily to Motown, Elvis, Lesley Gore ballads and standards like 'Higher and Higher', the score's appeal isn't nostalgic. It's music that builds its own self-contained, improbably symmetrical world".[82] New York's Daily News wrote, "As Tracy, Marissa Jaret Winokur has the heft, the pipes and an enormously appealing stage presence. Her dancing may not be as special as the plot suggests, but she wins your heart... With this role, Fierstein places himself in the great line of Broadway divas."[83]
Box office and business[edit]
Hairspray opened with a $12 million advance; after the 2003 Tony Awards, it was expected to do five times the business it normally did on a Monday.[84] The entire $10.5 million investment was recouped by May 2003 (about nine months after it opened on Broadway).[85] In 2002–03 it averaged 99% capacity; in 2007 it averaged 86%.[86]