HAIRSPRAY at Paper Mill Playhouse (1:30 matinee, 07 Oct 2010)

HAIRSPRAY at Paper Mill Playhouse (1:30 matinee, 07 Oct 2010)

Direction Re-Created by Matt Lenz; Choreography Re-Created by Michele Lynch
Set Coordination & Additional Design by Michael Allen
Costume Coordination and Additional Design by Brian Hemesath
Lighting Design by Paul Miller; Hair & Wig Design by Mark Adam Rampmeyer
Sound Design by Randy Hansen; Music Supervision by Tom helm

Tracy Turnblad – Christine Danelson
Corny Collins – Kasey Marino
Amber Von Tussle – Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone
Link Larkin – Constantine Rousouli
Penny Pingleton – Alex Ellis
Female Authority / us. Velma Von Tussle – Susan Mosher
Edna Turnblad – Christopher Sieber
Velma Von Tussle – Donna English
Male Authority / us. Edna Turnblad, Wilbur Turnblad – Kevin Meaney
Wilbur Turnblad – Lee Roy Reams
Seaweed J. Stubbs – Caliaf St. Aubyn
Little Inez – Arielle Campbell
Motormouth Maybelle – NaTasha Yvette Williams

Dynamites; Peaches / us. Little Inez– Rashidra Scott
Dynamites; Cindy / us. Motormouth Maybelle– Nicole Powell
Dynamites; Pearl – Iris Burruss

Brad / us. Corny Collins, Male Authority – Jake Wilson
Tammy / us. Penny Pingleton – Deidre Haren
Fender – Alex Rolocek
Brenda – Laurie Veldheer
Sketch – Callan Bergmann
Shelley / us. Tracy Turnblad – Beth Cheryl Tarnow
IQ / us.Link Larkin – Christopher Messina
Lou Ann / us. Amber Von Tussle, Female Authority – Dani Spieler
Duane – Christopher Brasfield
Gilbert / us Seaweed J. Stubbs (Dance Captain) – Tyrick Wiltez Jones
Lorraine / us. The Dynamites – Shelese Franklin
Thad – Kyshawn K. Lane

Swings – Brittany Conigatti, Willie Dee, Anthony Johnson


To sum up Paper Mill Playhouse's staging of the original production of Hairspray in one phrase, I would use “near perfection”; anyone who believes that associates, or others, should never try to recreate a Broadway production for a smaller market, I challenge to set aside the belief, take the short ride to Millburn, and see a production that attempts to recreate it's Broadway counterpart and no only succeeds, but manages to exceed nearly across the board.

Matt Lenz has spent nearly a decade honing Hairspray with a keen eye, maintaining and recreating O'Brien's original staging everywhere from Broadway to a super-sized Las Vegas and a compact world tour playing split weeks and one nighters everywhere from touring houses to community centers and sports arenas. These lessons have been learned well, and here, we finally get to see the true fruits of these labors, and my, what fruits they are! Lenz brings all the nuance and every beat of the original, but distills O'Brien's vison, tightening and refining and bringing even more to the forefront. Michele Lynch brings her A-game to the table with Jerry Mitchell's brilliant choreography, and finally, we see it COMPLETELY successfully morphed onto a stage that doesn't include the orchestra pit runway that proved so integral to the original staging. Kudos to both on a job well done.

Noticeable only to those who know the libretto backward and forward, there are a few new lines taken from the 90-minute 'casino' edit added in, with only the deletion of the “you don't look Jewish” joke in “Timeless to Me” - which was missed on my part.

Michael Allen originally adapted Rockwell's scenic design for use on the Networks tour, cutting the automation and streamlining the show for fast turn over times and short engagements. There, a few of alterations disappointed, but at Paper Mill, further refurbishment and revision has taken place, absolving most of those faults. Notably, and with thanks to Paper Mill's basic automation, we see the return of the original designs of the Turnblad Living room pod and the full Har-De-Har Hut (and with a HYSTERICAL and entirely new Rube Goldberg device no less!). “Mama I'm a Big Girl Now” still lacks visual pop without the full unfolding vanities and several inconsistent moments in the use of the LED drop 'Lite Brite' wall can stand to be rectified.

Brian Hemesath faces the strange task of augmenting the Tony winning designs of William Ivey Long that had already seen significant alteration and revision under the eye of Jimm Halliday over the course of the Networks run. Almost across the board, he succeeds, most importantly in his contributions to the wardrobes of Amber and Velma, who for the first time since 2004, now enter sporting a different look in every scene. Topping off these are the wig designs of Mark Adam Rampmeyer. Rampmeyer is a bang up hair and wig designer, but here, his work proves hit of miss. Some wigs are perfection, others seem to be lacking. The council girls, for one, have looser, flowing styles that don't look as attractive and don't hold up as well as they could during the more physical dance numbers. They do the job, but it reinforcing the continuing trend, showing that designers who worked under Paul Huntley on the original production of “Hairspray” (ie, Jason Hayes, Jon Jordan) fare best when creating their own designs for subsequent stagings.

Almost uniformly, the cast is strong. Christine Danelson is a powerhouse Tracy. She makes the role her own while at the same time you can see the clear influence of the Tracys that preceded her on the first national tour – and that is a VERY welcome fact. Christopher Sieber proves a refreshingly original and heartfelt take on Edna Turnblad and can belt every note and then some, all the while looking something akin to the pudgy (read – padded) lovechild of Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead. He is perfectly paired with Lee Roy Reams' Wilbur.

Constantine Rousouli proves once again that he is a Link Larkin to be reckoned with and Alex Ellis cements herself as a comedienne in the vein of Lucille Ball, turning in one of the truly best Penny Pingletons to be found. As per the Playbill bio, Caliaf St Aubyn is making his musical theatre debut as Seaweed with a performance that is all smooth swagger and masculine sex appeal. Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone provides a refreshingly different and effecting Amber Von Tussle.

Kasey Marino simply IS a Corny Collins and continues to deliver, going toe to toe with Donna English's suberb Velma – beautifully sung and layers mined for all that they are worth.

Natasha Yvette Williams is an absolutely show stopping Motormouth Maybelle, starting quietly and building to the most heartfelt and stoic “I Know Where I've Been”, delivered by the rich voice, never too much, but never too much. Perfection. Arielle Campbell is well matched as her daughter, Little Inez, truly lighting up when she sings and never seeming to 'put on' the youth of her character.

Kevin Meaney, as the Male Authority Figure, delivers the same performance seen by Broadway audiences and Susan Mosher somehow manages to dig more subversive comedic gold out of the female Authority Figure than she did on Broadway. That is a feat indeed.

The Dynamites in the persons of Iris Burruss, Nicole Powell and Rashidra Scott stop the show, and deservedly so. Scott, in particular shine. Beth Cheryl Tarnow's Shelley holds her own in her brief feature, giving a scat and riff that more fittingly 'white bread' than what was usually seen on Broadway. Special kudos are due to Callan Bergmann, who's dancing skill is on full display.

Just saw this tonight....kind of a mixed bag. Not Papermill's best, but far from their worst.

The main thing is, Hairspray is such a well-written show and the score is so good, that it's really hard to screw it up, and Papermill doesn't, and puts together a perfectly respectful, if not fantastic production, of the show.

To start with what's good, Alex Ellis walks off with the entire show with a hilarious scene stealing performance as Penny. Great sense of comedic timing, and a nice voice, though I was disappointed she didn't try for the high note in Without Love. A minor quibble, however.

The other big standout in the cast is Natasha Yvette Williams, who lets her Motormouth build to a stunning crescendo in I Know Where I've Been. What she lacks in the star power that Darlene Love brought to the role, she makes up for in depth.

Kasey Marino was a solid Corny Collins, and Lee Roy Reams (a Papermill favorite) was a very good Wilbur.

Sieber was also quite good, though he made no effort to play Edna as a woman. His performance never got beyond the campiness of a guy in drag. Although, to be fair, the only actor I've seen really get depth out of that role was Harvey Fierstein.

The two misfires are Christine Danelson as Tracy and Caliaf St. Aubyn as Seaweed. Neither of them had very good voices, particularly Danelson, who was a total letdown as Tracy. Aubyn, in addition to not having a good voice, just didn't seem to have much energy, and didn't appear the least bit interested. He did dance well, though.

Falling somewhere in the middle was Constantine Rasouli, who was serviceable, though ultimately not as charming or irrestible as, say, Aaron Tveit was in this role.

The direction and choreography have been faithfully recreated, though they seemed to lack some of the zip the show had on Broadway.

Overall, an enjoyable enough evening, but nothing that's going to blow you away.

Updated On: 10/15/10 at 12:42 AM

The two misfires are Christine Danelson as Tracy and Caliaf St. Aubyn as Seaweed. Neither of them had very good voices, particularly Danelson, who was a total letdown as Tracy.

I agree with you about St. Aubyn, but you must have seen Christine on an off day. I know she missed a few shows last weekend due to illness, but I must say that she is the BEST Tracy I have ever seen. I've seen several girls in the role, and Ms. Danelson has more charm than most of them, not to mention her crazy powerhouse voice. Her riffs on Without Love are RIDICULOUS. Also, she can dance up a storm. Sad that you saw her on a bad day.

I also disagree about Constantine. He's fantastic as link (I did not like Tveit in the role at all). In fact, this cast was my favorite (save for St. Aubyn). I liked the performance I saw at Paper Mill far more than any of the other productions I've seen, including several of the Broadway casts.

Adamgreer, when did you see the show on Broadway?

I think the key to Edna is most definitely to play her as a woman. Michael Ball in London got it right as did Michale Starke in the National Tour in the UK. Brian Conley who also is doing part of the tour and also played in London didn't quite get it.

I just came back from seeing the final show at Paper Mill. It was an amazing production. As someone who has seen Hairspray more times than I should admit, I dare say it is one of the best casts ever!!

Chris Seiber plays an amazing Edna. He is one of the few Ednas to have a voice and uses it. Christine Danelson is the best Tracy I have ever seen and hits every note. Her rendition of "I Can Hear the Bells" is comical and splendid at the same time. Weakvoiced? I overheard a couple of people say that Christine was out because she lost her voice and that they bought tickets just to see her. Maybe you caught her when her voice was going? Or saw her understudy? I could swear I saw her cry real tears in a couple of scenes.

I can go on about the cast. Alex Ellis is on the money as Penny. What a riot. Kathleen Montelone (I am sorry for the misspelling..doing this from memory) who plays Amber is another great character. Constantine is hot and fits the role perfectly.

Truth be told, the final show was a great one. This cast has great chemistry and it showed. If this is the beginning of the Paper Mill's season, they are in for great things!