Well, Scott and I are sitting in the airport here in Nebraska, it's hailing outside and our flight is delayed...
Luckily, the vibe from experiencing this production of HAIRSPRAY will get us through the nightmare of this afternoon's travels back to NY
Oh My God, it was FANTASTIC!! SO much fun! Every single performer excelled far beyond what we ever could have imagined. The show played for it's audience like friggin' gangbusters. A bigger reaction than Broadway. I wouldn't and can't even single anyone out, it wouldn't be fair nor possible, but, what the hell...My program is in my luggage, so I only have character names to offer...
Even before the show started, I, of course, started crying just during the director's pre-curtain pep talk backstage. Then after some speeches, the show started, and this audience of fellow students in love with theatre were so giving and attentive and LOUD, it was fantastic!
Tracy was perfect with a great voice and incredible comic timing that got HUGE laughs ("It Takes Two" was a tour de force, what hysterical different staging!!), as was Penny, she got EVERY laugh a Penny can get. Edna was revelatory, we were in shock and heaven, I can't possible express how great he was without seeming like his mother. Wilbur was funny, heart warming, just perfect.
Link and Seaweed, besides being great singers and dancers were, please don't arrest me, UNBELIEVABLY SEXY.
The Von Tussles were the perfect villains, Corny was a corny dream, Lil' Inez was ON FIRE. Even parts like "Mr. Spritzer" were played with such detail and, I must repeat myself, incredible comic timing, I just can't say enough about how good these kids are.
The gal playing Motormouth landed EVERY possible laugh and then went on to give a performance of "I KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN" rivaling any other I've seen/heard. Scott wept openly in the finale when Edna sang "and if you don't like the way I look, well I just don't give a damn" from the sheer joy of being part of a show that gives the lead roles to performers usually banished to one comic bit if they are lucky. I could go on and on....I wish I had the brain cells and computer AC power to list every scene and performer.
And the direction, dancing, musical directing, all of the crafts were amazing, especially considering how FREAKING FAST they put this on, I actually am still in shock over that.
This organization EDtA is mind-blowing. The intricate details they have worked out for the few thousand lucky teenagers who are part of this "conference" (or whatever the correct term is) is amazing. If I had something like this to be part of when I was 15 or so, my heart and head would have exploded from excitement and contentment. There were, like, a billion separate "workshops" in classrooms all over the campus, teaching every possible facet of theater you could ever imagine.
And wonderful performances of shows every day that were chosen from around the country. We saw "The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man In The Moon Marigolds" which was incredibly effective, a friend who happened to be there saw a production of "Master Harold And The Boys" that knocked him out, he was an emotional wreck he said (I am sorry we missed it), and last night's premiere of "RENT-School Edition (no curse words) blew the roof off the theatre.
I am devesatated we are missing the premier tonight of "SWEENEY TODD" School Edition" (slight cuts and key changes prepared by Sondheim himself, and having witnessed teenage girls trying to sing in Carol Channing's keys when I did HELLO DOLLY as a kid, I know this is an incredible new step in the way shows are prepared for high-schools). I know it is gonna be spectacular, based on what we saw this week.
I can't say enough about this Organization.
http://www.edta.org/ BRAVO!!
Anyway, I am running out of power!!!
-Marc Shaiman
