Hairspray (Revival)

TheatreFan4 said: "Honestly I feel like Hairspray, as much as I like it, would feelvery dated if they brought it back today."

That didn't stop Spamalot to be fair.

I love Hairspray but agree. I think it would be tough to re-mount as a revival. I think it's meant to be a popular one for community theaters and cruise ships and the like at this point

Give myself another 5-10 years before I feel in the mood sitting through another production. But Hairspray was one of my first musical obsessions. To be exact, the first musical I’ve seen since Wicked ignited my love of musicals!

The original Australian production wasn’t a copy of the Broadway show ( that came for the shows 20th anniversary ) that production used video screens etc and sadly palled in comparison to the original staging.

Well, Heart of Rock and Roll is fun and lighthearted, but not many people seem to be giving it a chance. We'll see what happens with opening tonight**edit: next week-all these openings, I got confused!

Updated On: 4/19/24 at 08:27 AM

"A Hairspray Revival May Be Broadway-Bound"

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/204273/a-hairspray-revival-may-be-broadway-bound/

Kad said: "If it's true, I hope it's a new production with a new creative team behind it."

Doesn't sound like it since Jack O'Brien was talking "we."

I wouldn't mind a new creative team –– with a Black director/choreographer –– but I also wouldn't mind seeing the show back on Broadway in ANY format, with a great cast.

Here's my Hairspray thing. I love it so much, but I think everything that could reasonably be done with it was done in the initial very long production. Will there ever be a better cast than the original? ... Well, maybe Hairspray Live was similarly excellent, but even then... Really consider the stars that aligned for that unbelievably exceptional original cast. I mean, Harvey Fierstein as Edna is probably one of my favorite performances on stage ever, up there with John Cameron Mitchell in Hedwig and Alfie Boe in La Boheme. Marissa Jaret Winokur was, as far as I'm concerned, perfect and irreplaceable. I have never seen a Tracy that I liked even half as much. Matthew Freaking Morrison got his start in Hairspray, and you don't get much better than him. Not to mention Laura Bell Bundy, Dick Latessa, Kerry Butler, Corey Reynolds, Mary Bond Davis, Jackie Hoffman... Clarke Thorell was alright too. Linda Hart was kind of not very good, honestly. If they do do a revival, I'd like to see what they do with that role. Kristin Chenoweth played it in Hairspray Live, but I don't think she will ever do such a small role in a Broadway show ever again. I think that the last time she ever would've done that was... Well, Steel Pier. I just have trouble imagining who could even do this show? That's to speak nothing of the direction, the choreography, the sets, the initial excitement of such an adaptation, and the fact that, as many others have stated, some of the material may be a bit dated. Now, if they revived it, I would be with decent certainty that they'd bring in Harvey to revise the book. They already did for Hairspray Live, and he was responsible for a lot of script doctoring on the original, it's almost a no brainer. But there's not much you can do, really, to make it not be dated, other than just totally change the story.

Does the script need to be doctored? Was it doctored at all prior to the recent London or tour productions?

HAIRSPRAY is one of those shows where the roles are pretty easy to play well. It's been done a lot, and the audience always has a great time, and a lot more people have seen it without the original cast than with the original cast.

It also may be a show that can survive, at least for 6-12 months on bway, without a major star and just a really talented, energetic cast and a well done production.

Having Black creative team members in significant decision-making positions (not just as associates or consultants) could certainly help the show's perception as a "white savior show." But if the intention for this supposed revival is to recreate the original, then I doubt that would happen.

seaweedjstubbs said: "The real dance show that John Waters based The Corny Collins Showon, The Buddy Deane Show, also attempted to integrate, but instead the powers that be just shut down the show all together. If people want Hairspray to reflect more of reality, it wouldn’t be Hairspray anymore. It’s not a history lesson, it’s not a true story, it’s a fable.If people want a deep and complex musical about racism, Hairspray isn’t it. But it was never really trying to be."

I agree completely. I think that people overblow the "problematic" nature. People also say Hedwig is problematic and "transphobic" when it was never a trans story to begin with. Same thing with this show: Hairspray involves a racial issue, but it's very shallow in how much it explores it. The appeal is how fun it is, how great the score is, how unique the characters are. Racism is more of a backdrop to talk about universal love between humans.