Hairspray
Crown Theatre
★★★★
If someone in the 1970s had told Baltimore’s bad-taste titan John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Polyester, among other gross-outs) one of his movies would be transformed into a Tony-winning Broadway musical he would have laughed, hard, and used it as the basis for his next envelope-pushing production.
However, by the time Waters made the film Hairspray (1988) he’d left behind the censorship controversies and moved toward the mainstream, yet retaining enough of his anti-establishment attitudes and out-there characters to bring his core audience along.
Chelsea Plumley as Velma Von Tussle.
Indeed, the cleverness of the 2002 Hairspray musical and the hit 2007 movie remake with John Travolta in the role made famous by Waters’ legendary drag queen Divine is how it manages to be a traditional Broadway musical yet retain its deliciously subversive quality with its funny, pointed critique of racism and size-ism.
The measure of how far the culture has moved toward the warped Waters worldview could be measured by the rapturous reception for this rousing production of Hairspray at Perth’s Crown Theatre on Sunday night, with a lengthy standing ovation to rival those we’ve been reading about at Venice Film Festival.
Of course, it helps when you have one of the most stirring and infectious final numbers in contemporary musical theatre, such as You Can’t Stop the Beat, a tribute to the soaring Phil Spector-produced Ike & Tina Turner classic River Deep, Mountain High that had the audience as elevated as the actual Tina Turner musical earlier this year.
While there are no big names in this locally produced show, performances across the board are top-notch, with standout turns in many of the key roles and one scene so beautifully performed by two of the veterans it alone makes it worth the price of a ticket.
Set in the early 1960s in Baltimore, when conservative white America was being shaken by the twin forces of the Civil Rights movement and black-inspired rock’n’roll (aka “race music”), Hairspray tells the story of a progressive plus-sized teen with big hair named Tracy Turnblad (Paige Fallu) who manages to score a gig as a dancer on a television variety show.
Despite the scheming of fattist and racist producer Velma Von Tussle (a hilariously high-pitched performance from Chelsey Plumley) and her equally bigoted daughter Amber (Elaina O’Connor also marvellously shrieky) Tracy manages to become a sensation, opening the door for the black community to get involved in the staunchly all-white show.
The progressive politics and the body-positive messaging are front and centre in Hairspray, but you never feel you’re being lectured to because it is such a high-spirited production and the villains of the piece are so gloriously idiotic.
There are terrific performances wherever you look on the huge Crown stage, which director Vincent Hooper, his creative team and the huge cast fill effectively.
Showstoppers Brendan Hanso and Rob Palmer as Wilbur and Edna Turnblad.
Fallu has all the bubbliness needed to embody loveable barrier-breaker Tracy; Joshua Firman and John Berry bring early 1960s Tab Hunter-ish handsomeness and charm to the roles of TV host Corny Collins and wannabe star Link Larkin; Bella McSporran is very funny as bombshell-in-waiting Penny Pingleton; and Paula Parore sings up a storm as disc jockey Maybelle ‘Motormouth’ Stubbs.
And no review of this entertaining show should fail to mention Rob Palmer and local music theatre legend Brendan Hanson in their roles as Tracy Turnblad’s oddball parents Edna and Wilbur, whose subplot is a gorgeous study of a longstanding marriage, which culminates in standout number (You’re) Timeless to Me.
Halfway through the number Hooper cleverly drops the curtain and allows Palmer and Hanson to step out front to sing the final verses like two vaudeville performers, milking every bit of comedy from the lyrics (“Fads keep a-fading/Castro’s invading/But Wilbur, you’re timeless to me”) and indulging in some cheeky physical byplay (“I didn’t know you were Jewish,” a surprised Edna says to a grabby Wilbur.
While Hairspray doesn’t have the star power of recent Crown shows, nor does it boast soaring numbers and eye-popping dancing we got in shows such as Chicago and Tina (although You Can’t Stop the Beat became the post-show earworm).
What Hairspray does deliver is pure joy, a sense that everyone on stage is having as much fun as the audience. What more can you ask from a night out?
Hairspray the Broadway Musical runs until September 28.
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