Hairspray Mini-Review- 8/2 Matinee

[picturetaker9211]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 8:39pm

Hey everybody! I saw Hairpsray today (obviously), & I loved it! I sat in the mezzanine in row L, which a really good overall view of everything. It was basically everybody in the current cast except for Caissie Levy, who plays Penny. Instead Penny was being played by Lindsay Nicole Chambers. She was really good, but I didn't like her in "Mama I'm A Big Girl Now"

I thought Shannon Durig was amazing! But her voice was like...weird at times. But overallshe gave a clean & fantastic performance.
Haylie Duff was better than I expected. I gues she's improved since she was in those videos on Broadway.com. But she still wasn't amazing like all her groupies say they were.
Aaron Tveit is so cute! His version of "It Takes Two" was fabulous. Love him. When my bus was driving back we saw in escaping for all the girls in just a wifebeater & a hat.
Blake Hammond was really funny. "Timeless to Me" was a cute number. During this one part, he kept laughing & couldn't sing, since the audience was gigglng so much.
Tevin Campbell...eh. I didn't enjoy his singing as Seaweed. His acting was good though.
Darlene Love has an amazing voice. During "I Know Where I've Been," she hit those notes so perfectly. Except during the song, some rude people kept trying to clap to the beat. Annoyingx2.
That's all I have to say. I loved it. The End

Oh wait, forgot about the stage door. Couldn't get anybody's signature But my sister got Shannon's so that was cool. People went crazy. All kinds of shoving & stuff. But I know Shannon, Aaron, & Haylie were at least there. There was somebody else, but I didn't know who she was. Ok. Done

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 8:58pm

Glad that you liked the show.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 9:03pm

Sorry to hear that Caissie was out. She's a great Penny.

[Tag]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 10:05pm

Why is Caissie ALWAYS out? She must have really screwed up her voice.

[DrunkyMcWasted]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 11:10pm

I enjoy Lindsay more when she's in her other understudy role (Prudy/Matron/Gym teacher). What she does during "The Big Dollhouse" is HILARIOUS.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 12:19am

she's recovering from hemoraging in her cords. no matter how many times i've posted that i still can't spell that word right.

but yes, she's been out quite a bit. the two covers for that role have been getting quite a bit of stage time. poor cassie.... only contracted to be on broadway for 3 months and she's missing most of it

[SNLMedia]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 3:08am

Glad you enjoyed the show! I was there as well, and equally annoyed by the people clapping to "I Know Where I've Been". Of all the songs in the show to clap to, that is the most inappropriate.

[Marie2]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 3:12am

Maybe Caissie will be invited back after DeGarmo's next run ends. It would be nice if she has a chance to enjoy and perform the role at full health.

[Marie2]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 3:12am

sorry. accidental double post. Updated On: 8/3/06 at 03:12 AM

[balletandbroadway]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 6:16am

I saw the Wednesday matinee of Hairspray 2 weeks ago from yesterday. Sorry I don't have a playbill on me so I can't give exact names...
Haylie Duff, in my opinion, sounded dreadful in most cases, especially in "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" and "Cooties." I had gone with a conference and we had met Becky, girl who played Amber on broadway right before Duff, and she sang for us and she was amazing. It sucks that she got kicked out because they wanted a name though.
Lindsay was also in for Penny and she did really well and was awesome!
Seaweed was pretty good, especially in "Run and Tell That!" and "Without Love" but at some points, his voice gave out a little bit near the end but his acting was really good.
Edna and Wilbur were both hysterical! haha. Like picturetaker9211 said, in "Timeless" they got a ton of applause and laughter, which caused them to laugh but it was really good. I really loved "Welcome to the 60's" too.
Darlene (Maybelle) and Velma Von Tussel were really good as well! "I Know Where I've Been" got a standng ovation from the house and "(Legend of)Ms. Baltimore Crabs" was well recepted as well.
Tracy and Link... oh my gosh... phenomenal! Shannon was relaly good and her voice never wavered and she was fantastic! Aaron... first of all, his voice makes me melt a litlte bit... and when he sang "It Takes Two" I was in complete heaven! haha. The two had great chemistry and "Without Love" was so cute between them.
Overall, the show was really good and very funny. I sat in the mezzanine row K and you could see everything and see it well. It's really worth the money but if I could change one thing, it'd be Haley Duff... I really did not like her in the role of Amber...

[starlight2]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 11:14am

my understanding is the last 3 "Ambers" left at the end of their contracts to persue other things,they were not "kicked out", including Becky who is in the Legally Blonde cast and is the understudy I believe for Laura Bell Bundy's role of Elle.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 11:50am

I was hoping to see Caissie one more time before she left. Hope she has a speedy recovery, but I know vocal chord problems do take time.

[JerseyScoundrel]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 12:45pm

Its better not to go into why people leave shows.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 10:54pm

starlight,
I won't go into why some people may or may not leave shows, but where would you get your info on why every amber has left the show?

as far as the 8/2 matinee...

another fun note - haylie took out a few ensemble members during the madison.. she slammed into them because she had no idea what was going on.

[javertim]

Posted: 8/4/06 at 8:11am

It upsets me a little that you didn't enjoy Lindsay Chambers' Penny as much as you could have. After several repeat viewings of this show, both on Broadway and on tour, I have never seen a better Penny than Ms. Chambers. She is wonderful, and I really hope she gets the role full-time in the future.

Likewise, Caissie Levy is also wonderful, and my second favorite in the role, so you should be seeing a great Penny no matter what (I haven't seen Michelle, though)!

[starlight2]

Posted: 8/4/06 at 10:17am

broadwayguy2, i did not say it was without a doubt a fact, but most Ambers have stayed close to a year in the role and most contracts seem to run 9 months to a year, not always i realize, and some members have come back after contracts end to fill in for vacations, illness or whatever. And the fact that Becky G.and Lindsey Chambers and a few other "old" Hairspray cast members are in the Legally Blonde cast, i assumed they were ready to move on at the end of their contracts, i even heard that Tracy Jai was in the LB cast? But this could just be a rumor? I do want to say that i wish Cassie a full recovery and hope they do allow her to perform the role later this year when she is recovered.

[mikem]

Posted: 8/4/06 at 10:17am

I'm sorry to hear that the stage door was so awful -- was it really crowded or were the few people there just really rude?

[Days of Inspiration]

Posted: 8/5/06 at 9:21pm

"Likewise, Caissie Levy is also wonderful, and my second favorite in the role, so you should be seeing a great Penny no matter what (I haven't seen Michelle, though)! "

I saw Michelle as Penny today and she was wonderful!