THE SHOW:  

Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray.  

Big hair, big dreams, and big belly laughs collide in Hairspray – an outrageously funny and at times powerful musical that won a whopping eight Tony Awards in 2003 including Best Musical. One of the few musicals that truly succeeds at all levels with great music, dancing, and both a fun and inspiring story. It’s a story set in Baltimore during the early 1960s and centered on Tracy Turnblad, a teenage girl who dreams of dancing on The Corny Collins Show, Baltimore’s own television dance show. But she’s meeting some resistance from a mom-and-daughter prima donna pair who poke fun at Tracy’s weight. And she’s getting even stiffer resistance when she wants to integrate the television show, eliminating the one-day-a-month “Negro Day” and making every day “Negro Day.”  

THE PRODUCTION:  

Carlsbad Community Theatre welcomes us back to the Sixties with Hairspray under the direction of Eric Hellmers and aided by a number of dazzling period costumes by Janet Pitcher. This flashback is a little quicker than usual with the “junior” version of the show, cutting a few of the numbers including I Can Hear the Bells and Timeless to Me, but Eric Hellmers’ team and the cast ensure that it’s a short and sweet trip.  

Tracy Turnblad (Maddie Aldecoa) and that cast kick it off with a great intro to Baltimore. Maddie has a strong voice and infectious personality as the center of the story. Her mother Edna is played by Michelle Travis who is delightful as she steps out of her comfort zone in Welcome to the Sixties. Jeff Wattner is amusing as Tracy’s corny dad Wilbur, unfortunately not seen enough in the junior version. And Breanne Lehman is hilarious as Tracy’s dorky and ditzy best friend Penny Pingleton, a character she inhabits with marvelous personality and physical comedy.  

A few other highlights include Brad Nelson as teen idol Link Larkin who shines in the diverting Without Love with Tracy. Allie DeGour and Lydia Schmidt give nicely evil performances as the mother-and-daughter mean girls who help lead a great Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now number with Tracy, Edna, Penny, Prudy Pingleton (Hannah Gelbart) and later joined by a bunch of squabbling mother-daughter duets. Bryce Gallagher does a groovy Run and Tell That, charismatic Emme Roberts makes a splash as Little Inez, and Sierra Gonzalez leads a powerful I Know Where I’ve Been.  

The cast as a whole creates a fun and energetic Nicest Kids in Town led emceed with flair by Corny Collins (Ryan Yates), welcomes us with style to the Sixties featuring The Dynamites (Miranda Colvin, Arianna Riel, and Grace Kellett), and brings it all home in a big and lively You Can’t Stop the Beat.

Rob Hopper
rob@nationalyouththeatre.com
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National Youth Arts

~ Cast ~ 

Tracy Turnblad:

Cindy Watkins:

~ Dollhouse Dancers ~