Hairspray on Broadway

Hairspray on Broadway

So I’ve just arrived home after attending the opening night show of Hairspray at the Civic Center. The show is only here for 3 days and I was lucky enough to get to see it. I do have to start out and say that I knew I was going to love this show before the curtain ever came up. Why? Because it’s a Broadway show. I’ve had this soundtrack since Marissa Jaret Winokur won the Tony! It’s ingrained in me to love all things musical. If anybody has listened to or seen Forbidden Broadway: Goes to Rehab, I found a bit of truth in that first song. Enough of that and back to Hairspray’s opening night.

The opening song “Good Morning Baltimore” made me cry. That’s not being negative. That’s the way I enjoy an awesome show. If I cry, it’s good. This was the first time I’ve seen this show on stage. I loved the entire first song and how it was staged. From Tracy being in bed, to the silhouettes of the women behind her, to how Tracy went from Point A to Point B so effortlessly with the small set changes.

Any time the ensemble sang together with full harmony I would get chills. The company CAN sing and they can certainly fill up the Civic Center with a sound so full that any seat in the house is a good seat! I found the main cast did well with each of their respective characters. I really enjoyed Wilbur and Edna in Act II at the end of “You’re Timeless To Me”. Not only did they sing the song well, they made the entire audience and themselves laugh. They kept us laughing, and us as the audience kept them laughing, that it took a minute before they could start to sing the last line of the song! Who knows how long we would have stayed there if we all would have just kept laughing?

I was enthralled to watch the choreography of the kids in detention, the sock hop, and the record shop. I am not a dancer, but I found myself just watching the movements and wishing I could have as much fun doing the dance as they showed on the stage. At the end of the show during the company bow, I found myself trying to join in with the dance for “You Can’t Stop the Beat”, but I found myself lacking. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll have it figured out. Just as I was watching the dancing, I was also tapping my feet to the players in the pit as well as the singers on the stage. They each had their part in either the tapping, singing, or moving I did in my seat tonight.

Overall, this show was great! I’d love to see it again with even more time to pay attention to the finer details of the show. As it’s only here for two more days, it’s not going to be this year. But I am glad I saw this on the stage and got to experience one of the shows I’ve listened to for years. There were so many other things I loved about this show that I would love to list them out! The few things that I’ve gone over so far do nothing on what I enjoyed of the entire show. But, I would like to finish this up and not have it be it’s own novel. Mainly, I loved it! I knew I would (no surprise) and the only thing left is to go to bed. So with that I will now head my way to bed and see if any dreams are inspired by Hairspray songs.