AMY TOPOREK AND MICHAEL WALKER ON PLAYING TRACY AND EDNA IN WALNUT STREET THEATRE'S "HAIRSPRAY"

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 10:46pm

Interviews with Amy Toporek (Tracy Turnblad) and Michael Walker (Edna Turnblad)by Joel Markowitz

Thanks to the management of the beautiful Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia for arranging for me to meet the two stars of Hairspray.

Part 1 - A podcast with Amy Toporek

It’s been an exciting journey from Edison, New Jersey for 24 year old Amy Toporek, from playing Grandma Tseitel in a camp production of Fiddler on the Roof, to the Shabbatones, to auditioning and finally nabbing the role of the spunky, zaftig dancing sensation Tracy Turnblad in the National tour of Hairspray.

Amy talks about playing Tracy in the newly re-conceived production of the Tony Award winning musical now playing at the Walnut Street Theatre, her obsession with Broadway tunes, the frustration of coming so close to getting the role of her dreams and how a broken ankle gave her the biggest break of her professional career.

With Hairspray’s themes of integration and civil rights permeating the Walnut Street Theatre on the first night of previews - which was also election night- Amy describes what it was like backstage and the cast’s response when they learned Barack Obama won and how her showstopping number ”I Know Where I’ve Been” has extra meaning for her now.” All of a sudden we heard screams coming from downstairs and we stopped, and we all cheered and everyone was crying.And then we went downstairs and watched his acceptance speech in the green room, and again more crying..and we changed the lyrics to “Welcome to the 60’s” to “Obama! Welcome to the White House!”

How is she handling the demanding role of the teenager who is onstage for the entire 2 plus hours of the show? “The hardest dance number is You Can’t Stop The Beat, Those dances created by choreographer Mary Jane Houdina are very intense to get through..a lot of Ponys, The Boston, the Madison and jerks. It’s even more than the (national) tour.”

“I’m still really new with the acting business, but I seem to be fitting in so far, and I’m really enjoying every second of it, and I really can’t see my self not singing and not performing for the rest of my life. Singing is the thing I think about in the morning when I wake up, and I sing myself to sleep sometimes.. I just want to sing forever.”

Part 2 - I caught up with the very funny and adorable Michael Walker in the green room after the Saturday night performance and asked him to talk about playing Edna - the Turnblad Matriarch.
Amy Toporek and Michael Walker on Hairspray at Walnut Street Theatre

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 11:00pm

Tracy doesn't sing I Know Where I've Been. How could it be her big show-stopping number? That's Motormouth's big number.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 11:03pm

YEAH AMY TOPOREK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 2:57pm

I sent the correction to my editor, who wrote that paragraph, to change "her" to "the". So, did you like the podcast? It's one of my favorites I've recorded so far. Amy's story of election night is heartwarming. Thanks for catching this.
Updated On: 12/5/08 at 02:57 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 4:15pm

Amy is a wonderful Tracy. I saw her three weeks ago.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 4:52pm

While Toporek and Walker are great, I found the show on the whole to be pretty dreary.

Updated On: 12/5/08 at 04:52 PM

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 10:30pm

^ the pictures put me to sleep. IT just doesn't look like that happy. I was just picturing the show a tad different.

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 10:41pm

I saw the show and it was extremely joyful and happy and the really colorful costumes and sets contributed to the fun of the show. Go to this link (no pun intended)at the Walnut Street Theatre website and click on the pics, and you'll see. The critcs raved about this production- and they were right. I saw the original cast 4 times, and I love the show, but this production is equally entertaining.
Hairspray Walnut Street Theatre Page

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 10:51pm

I didn't like the podcast.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 10:52pm

Or should I say:

I DIDN'T LIKE THE PODCAST.

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 12/5/08 at 11:21pm

See, I didn't even think it was that colorful. The set design was from the wrong period of the 60s; it was "flower power," which is totally wrong for 1962. The direction was bit sloppy (how many times did they open and closes the advertisement partition?) and I found the choreography to be nonexistent ("Welcome to the 60s" and "Without Love" specifically). The biggest sin, though, was it was simply boring, which is the last thing "Hairspray" should be.

[Renee2]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 6:03pm

What a wonderful podcast- so much fun and it's so rare when you get a podcaster who is so personable and so well prepared. Updated On: 1/8/09 at 06:03 PM