Hairspray 3/22 Review

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 2:11pm

Ok, so I went up to NYC for a few days. I tried Wicked lotto, lost and ran to the Neil Simon. We got row C, D, and E, partial view. They were still great seats though, barely missed anything. So I come back to the theatre and open my playbill to find two slips, one announcing a new member of the cast, and the other announcing an understudy. I was quite suprised when I looked at the slip, as Leslie Kritzer was playing Tracy, and she wasn't even the standby, she was Shelley (turns out Carly misses a lot, the lady at the box office was talking about how she PLAYS the role, but she doesn't know if she'll be there, and other people have reported her missing a lot).

Good Morning Baltimore- great! Leslie had an AWESOME voice. She did a lot of Shoshana riffs. Her legs were skinny and she didn't look fat enough, but that's OK. She kind of got stuck on her night gown a little bit, but she pulled it off in time. She seemed nervous, rightfully, at first, but then started to warm up. It seemed like the sets were downsized a little bit.

NKIT- fun! The male ensemble members are really great dancers. The swing for Shelley had a red wig which kind of annoyed me, but it was OK. Jonathan Dokuchitz was good, but he didn't do much riffing or dancing.

Mamma I'm a BGN- I didn't like Jordan Ballard as Amber. I liked her, but she didn't play Amber mean enough, just stupid. Ok, can I say how much I LOVE Tracy Miller as Penny? She was even BETTER than Jenn, in my opinion. Leslie did some nice riffs in this song.

I Can Hear TB- Tracy STOLE this scene! She was so funny! Richard H blake has improved LOTS since last February. I liked Leslie, she was good. Bruce was really funny with his crying. Todd was OK.

Miss BC- OMG. Barbara Walsh has the BEST VOICE EVER. Her range is so large. They changed a lot of the lyrics, I noticed.

It Takes Two- Richard has an awesome voice. Better than Matt's, IMO. He seemed really uncomfortable, which is good because he's supposed to. Leslie was really funny with the skirt lifting.

Welcome to the 60's- I couldn't really see the dynamites at first because of my seats. There was this really good male photographer dancer in front of me though. Bruce was really funny, I liked that new wig on him too. I never noticed that Tracy couldn't get into Hefty Hideaway's while Edna was changing, and she kind of looked confused. Leslie did some GREAT riffs here.

Run and Tell That- OH. MY. GOD. Chestor has such a good voice. He and Tracy have AWESOME chemistry. At the end, he went all the way down on his back and they were both breathing heavily and, ugh, it was so amazing. I liked Lil Inez's voice, but not her acting. She was really nice at the stage door, though.

BB&B- Funny. I liked the choreography between Maybelle and the black boys, when she was grinding with them. Only thing I didn't get was Leslie smiling when Link tried to leave her.

I got some popcorn at intermission.

Big Dollhouse- Julie Halston is so funny! I loved it, she had great scatting.

GMB reprise- Couldn't really see cause of my seats. Good, nothing special.

Timeless To Me- HILARIOUS. The ad-libs Bruce did, oh my god! At shabbat shalom, only a few people laughed, so he was like, 6 jews in the house including us, proceeded to point them out, and then he was like, eh, half Jewish, with his hands. Then he was like, the rest are in Florida.

WL- I LOVE Tracy Miller! She is so funny and has an amazing voice! She and Chestor really worked well together, and he was great also. Richard and Leslie had REALLY great chemistry.

I Know WIB- Good, nothing too special. Mary had a great voice as usual, liked the hug between Inez and Link.

Hairspray- I liked Jon Dokuchitz in this. Barbara was funny too, and the costumes are just awesome. Jordan was better in this scene.

Cooties- I like her voice, but she just wasn't mean enough. They changed a lot of the lyrics. I think she would make a great Glinda.

You CSTB- I liked the aisle dancing, maybe it's just me. It was really high powered. The way Tracy said "I'm a pretty girl Mama!" was too funny! Costumes were great, Bruce was really funny. Leslie's a really good dancer.

Finale- Standing ovations all around. Bruce then proceeded to tell the audience it was Leslie's first performance as Tracy. She then got a standing ovation and started to cry, it was really nice. Got a lot of autographs at the stage door and a few pictures, everyone was really nice. Rent review to come later!

[kim1061]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 2:17pm

great review. i really need to see this show!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 3:23pm

Thought I would bump this thread since I was the one who originally asked the question about Leslie's performance as Tracy.

[Crazy4MattMorrison52]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 3:32pm

bruce does that jewish joke every night. every time ive seen the show with him he does it. its kinda old now

[Crazy4MattMorrison52]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 3:42pm

was there a tammy when you saw the show or tommy?

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 6:37pm

I'm trying to remember, it seems like there may have been more boys than girls. Wait, no, in big dollhouse there were...3...I think. No there was a Tammy. I remember role call, but her mic was way low.

[DAME]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 7:35pm

The set was downsized? Why would they do that?

[Yorkie1276]

Posted: 3/25/05 at 10:37pm

Jesus, is Carly ever in the show?

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 12:02am

I HATE it when ppl take for granted what they have, when there are ppl like me who DREAM of having what they have!AHHHHHHH!!!! That REALLY gets to me!
Anyways, back to what I was going to ask: If I LOVE Kerry on the CD, would I love the current Penny?

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 7:45am

The current Penny is SO funny. Her voice isn't quite as strong, but still amazing and her acting more than makes up for it.

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 7:55am

is it common to change the lyrics to songs from shows that have been running for awhile and already have been recorded?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:01am

I'm so glad you liked the show! Wow, in the past few months I don't think anyone has posted that they actually saw Carly. I feel like I was one of the only ones. Then again, I saw it in July. She was great though. But, it is a great show!

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:04am

Yeah, what's happened with Carly lately? I caught her in August and thought she was excellent. Lately, though, she seems to be out all the time. Maybe this is like the Joel Grey situation, where he basically left, but they kept advertising him.

[Craig]

Posted: 3/26/05 at 9:16am

"bruce does that jewish joke every night. every time ive seen the show with him he does it. its kinda old now"

Perhaps to someone who's seen the show several times, but I doubt his joke could seem old to the majority of the theater patrons who are only seeing it for the first time...

[TjonC2]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 12:56pm

Can we just talk about Leslie Kritzer??? How fantastic of a performer? I would pay big bucks to see her Tracy Turnblad. Her performance on the "Urinetown" tour was hysterical. Fanny Brice was brilliant.

She is on the move!

Go Leslie!!

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 1:06pm

Leslie had such a fantastic voice, only problem is that the fat suit was WAY too skinny! I couldn't tell why they would be mean to her, cause it just looked like she had big boobs.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 1:07pm

It's about time that she got a chance to play Tracy considering she's been with Hairspray for about a year now. I hope she's on the next time I see it. I just love her voice.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 4:08pm

Anyone know what happened to Shannon Durig?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/29/05 at 4:38pm

Shannon is still there, but I'm sure the powers that be thought it best to give Leslie a chance to go on just in case Shannon happens to be out. As it stands now, I think Shannon goes on quite frequently as Tracy.