Music, performances give 'Hairspray' lots of bounce

By Ed Siegel, Globe Staff, 10/9/2003

"Hairspray," compared to the meaty farce in "The Producers," can seem like a Fluffernutter. And compared to the real rock 'n' roll of 1962 that John Waters used in his film, the musical can seem pretty ersatz.

Those were the comparisons I made when "Hairspray" opened in New York, but taken on its own merits I have to admit that this Fluffernutter really hits the spot. And this road production is so sharp that none of the energy and ebullience of New York is lost in Boston.

Marc Shaiman's music may not be as propulsive as Dion's or as down and dirty as James Brown's, but it really doesn't try to be. Instead, Shaiman weds rock and R&B beats with Broadway melodies, and the result is a noise made all the more joyful by as fine a sound mix as you can find in any theater.

The story is taken from Waters's 1988 camp film about Tracy Turnblad, a zaftig teenager in Baltimore battling to make it on an "American Bandstand"-style show in the 1960s. She forms an alliance with the black teenagers who face their own discrimination, but Waters isn't your average preacher, and there's not an ounce of sanctimoniousness in the musical either.

How moralistic can you be, after all, when the mother of the central figure is played by a man -- Divine in the movie, Harvey Fierstein on Broadway, and Bruce Vilanch on the road. Vilanch doesn't have the voice -- who does? -- or the presence of Fierstein, but he has any number of comedic moves, along with any number of chins, and he responded well when problems with the onstage telephone forced him into some likable ad-libbing.

Speaking of the central figure, we've let too much time go by without mentioning Carly Jibson, the 19-year-old sensation whose squeaks and shimmies make her instantly endearing. And enduring. She could probably carry the show, but she doesn't have to. The performers are strong throughout the cast, and Todd Susman as Tracy's bedraggled father, Jordan Ballard's deliciously despicable Amber (Tracy's tormentor), and Austin Miller's heartthrobbing Link Larkin are particularly strong.

The ensemble performs with strong singing and even stronger dancing. Shaiman borrows from Phil Spector here and the mavens of Motown there, and director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell respond with energy and wit. It's not every musical in which figures in a poster come to life and deliver a great Supremes-like number. The book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, along with Shaiman's and Scott Wittman's lyrics, is loaded with irreverence and intelligence.

David Rockwell's cartoonish set might be scaled down from New York, but the musical feels perfect in the Colonial, the Fenway Park of theaters. This version of the 2003 Tony winner is so good it took the minds of many Boston theatergoers off the Red Sox. It even made one theater critic think twice about a very enjoyable musical.

Ed Siegel can be reached at siegel@globe.com.

Hairspray

Musical in two acts, with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Witman, and book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Based on the film by John Waters.

Directed by: Jack O'Brien. Choreography, Jerry Mitchell. Set, David Rockwell. Costumes, William Ivey Long. Lights, Kenneth Posner. Sound, Steve C. Kennedy.

At: the Colonial Theatre, through. Nov. 1. 617-931-2787.