Hairspray (The Opera House)

Description:

• The Tony Award-winning production of Hairspray is bringing its enduring story to the newly restored Opera House theatre in Boston. In fact, its main focus of breaking down image-consciousness and outdated stereotypes is still, sadly, quite relevant. The coolest thing to watch in Baltimore in 1962 is the TV hit "The Corny Collins Show," which features local high schoolers dancing and singing their way to stardom. When there's an audition for new talent, overweight Tracy Turnblad, played by Keala Settle, makes it her business to get the part with her sugar-sweet voice, no matter how many insults she endures in the process. So throw away your inhibitions, and join the fun-loving, dancing kids of Baltimore. They've got moves that'll hold your attention longer than most of today's dancers on TV. While the show is a bit longer than it could be, singers like Caissie Levy, who played Tracy's best friend Penny, will carry you spellbound from one scene to the next. Also exceptional was the choreography by Jerry Mitchell and set design by David Rockwell. Hairspray comes to life not through its story, which ends as happily as we expect it to, but through the energy and color with which it is performed by a few key people.
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