Hairspray at TPAC

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

TPAC’s 23-24 Broadway series ends with a bang of color, music, and 60’s vibes as Hairspray makes the journey through the decades to Nashville by way of Baltimore.

Set at the brink of one of America’s most daring and defining decades, Hairspray tackles themes of inequality, injustice, and insulting social value systems with laughter, bright colors, and song. Following the life of Tracy Turnblad, a 16-year-old with dreams of dancing on national television, the musical perkily grooves through challenging and oppressive social systems by focusing on the positive attitudes, relationships, and progress that can be made when people (and especially young people) have dreams, have fun, and have a love for music and dancing. As something of a coming of age for both Tracy and the USA, the story dives into the challenges and failures of society while showing the ways that confidence and camaraderie on an interpersonal level can snowball into a movement that’s too big to be stopped. Along with big hair, Hairspray contains big numbers and very big personalities. With that being said…

Favorite Performer: Josiah Rogers as Seaweed J. Stubbs. With slick moves and smooth vocals, Rogers brings a soulful, youthful suaveness. Deidre Lang’s vocal prowess and matriarchal poise as Motormouth Maybelle, meanwhile, brings a sagacity and perspicacity that reflects an underlying seriousness, reminding us of the high stakes and the hard road her character has traveled. Andrew Scoggin’s Corny Collins is delightful, Ralph Prentice Daniel is endearing as Mr. Turnblad, and Greg Kalafatas evokes big laughs and burgeoning confidence as Turnblad’s blushing bride Edna. Skyler Shields shines when he needs to as Link Larkin, seizing his moment in the swoon-inducing “It Takes Two.” As Tracy Turnblad, Caroline Eiseman is super. Full of infectious energy and perpetually ready to bust a move, the Belmont grad takes the lead role with a gusto and charisma worthy of a place that calls itself Music City.

Favorite Number: “Welcome to the 60’s.” The introduction of The Dynamites really leads to an explosion that mirrors the seismic societal shift that its protagonists were seeking and experiencing. “I Know Where I’ve Been” is full of pain, pride, pathos, and promise, and the rousing reception afforded Deidre Lang in the role of Motormouth Maybelle was completely warranted. “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” meanwhile, brings the show to a celebratory, feel-good climax.

Hairspray is a fun, yet reflective way to end TPAC’s 23-24 Broadway series. It’s a great springboard for thought and discussion centered around societal progress, and it opens the door for ways to make our current and future worldviews and practices better. This production is another great example of ways that art can portray history, but can also serve as both a producer and a consumer in the economy of culture. It’s also a testimony to the notion that some of the greatest music can come from some of the most trying and pivotal times. A quote attributed to Plato applies here, too — “those who tell the stories rule society.” As our society is subject to the firehose of falsehood and abrasive, polemic rhetoric, it really is a breath of fresh air to see truth and goodness wrapped in a bright, bubbly package that avoids being didactic or preachy. And we need a steady diet of truth. We need to hear that there’s still progress to be made and that the youth of our time are likely to spearhead it. We need to see the outcasts, misfits, and “Special Ed” kids coming together to buck the system of stifling traditions associated with conformity and lack of imagination and integration. There is a time and a place for painting the 60’s with gloom and despair, but there’s also a place for telling the story with lightheartedness and some of the beautiful naivety of its heroine. Music has brought people and ideas together over the decades, and a musical that celebrates music and dancing, dreams and diversity deserves to be retold and re-presented. Music, love, and confidence can combine to be an unshakable, unstoppable force, and as the closing number indicates, this beat is one that we couldn’t stop–even if we wanted.

Hairspray will be in Nashville until June 16 in TPAC’s Jackson Hall. Tickets and more info here. Take a look at TPAC’s 24-25 season here.