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| Nick DeSantis, Shaunyce Omar and Callie Williams in Hairspray (Tracy Martin) |
Hairspray
Village Theatre
Everett: 7/6-29/18
There is plenty to enjoy in the Village Theatre production
of Hairspray, and a lot of it is in
tiny moments that make it clear that directors Steve Tomkins and Timothy
McCuen Piggee have thought about every detail. It’s also a bit bittersweet
for those who have enjoyed Tomkins’ directing at Village, because this is his
last official production as artistic director at the theater.
This production has heightened the revolutionary part of the
story of a young woman who puts her dreams on the line in order to desegregate
her local television dance program. It’s a particularly good message for these
turbulent times.
The musical was also fairly revolutionary in its debut by
focusing on a larger-size girl and her larger-size mother. For whatever reason,
it then became obligatory, though, to cast the mother as a man because Harvey
Fierstein played it that way on Broadway. Though our veteran comedy actor, Nick DeSantis does a perfectly
wonderful job, it might be more revolutionary these days to actually cast a
large woman in the role.
New-to-town Callie
Williams is Tracy Turnblad. She and her best friend Penny (Becca Orts) watch the Corny Collins
show religiously and decide they must attend a teen dancer audition when there’s
an opening. It’s no surprise that Tracy is deemed too large and unattractive
for the show, but somehow, she gets on anyway, and somehow, she ends up attracting
the attention of the popular boy on tv, Link Larkin (Ethan Carpenter).
But Tracy’s also been in a bit of trouble over the height of
her hair and meets a lot of other “troubled” kids in school detention, who
somehow all seem to be black. Seaweed is one of those detention kids. The
understudy, Chandler T., went on as
Seaweed in the show I saw and he completely nailed the role. He has the voice
and the moves and no one could have known that he wasn’t originally cast so
from the beginning.
Seaweed’s mom is Motormouth Maybelle, powerfully sung by Shaunyce Omar, who sent everyone out to
intermission with the show-stopping Big,
Blonde & Beautiful and her big alto voice! Maybelle also is allowed to
be on the television show for Negro Day, once a month. But Tracy would like
there to be Negro Day every day and starts agitating for change.
Some of the fun tiny moments in this production include the
particularly slapstick activities of Williams where she shows off her comic
timing and her willingness to look silly while mooning over Link, and the
similar silliness of Carpenter when he turns into a “mannequin” and is dragged
all over the stage. Some of that is just laugh-out-loud funny!
The choreography by Crystal
Dawn Munkers is also apt for the different styles of the period and encourages
a lot of smiling at the stage. The rest of the tech support, including sharp
music direction from R.J. Tancioco,
a clean set by Carey Wong (his
trademark), and terrific dresses from Alex
Jaeger pull the whole show together.
The show is one for all ages to enjoy and the little kids I
saw, as tiny as 3 or 4, prove that! Everyone is having a great time.
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