Hairspray Tour - Washington, DC (4/19)

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 12:12am

This evening's performance marked the 20th time I have seen a production of Hairspray be it the Broadway, 1st National Tour and the present non-equity tour. I was kind of hesitant as I saw an amazing performance by the entire company last weekend on Broadway for Shannon Durig's last performance as Tracy. Well I'm happy to report that I was more than pleased with what I saw tonight. My only complaint: what happened to the set?!!

Upon entering the Warner Theater I was somewhat taken aback when I saw 7 people listed on the understudy board!! Not to worry, the production just added six new people to the cast, and the Playbills had not been reprinted. We did have the Edna understudy on this evening though. Greg London was excellent and seemed very comfortable in the role.

I was kind of disappointed as I really wanted to see Constantine Rousouli as Link, but the role is now being played by Taylor Frey. He was very good.

My main reason for seeing the show was to see Brooklynn Pulver as Tracy as I have heard many wonderful things about her performance. You'd never guess that this girl has been playing the role for two years. I loved her voice, energy and characterization. I'm kind of curious if the powers that be have seen her at all for Tracy on Broadway.

Sharon Malane as Penny was also excellent. Katie Donohue was a great Amber, too. What was kind of surprising is they cut some of her lines when Tracy is first introduced on the Corny Collins show. It was strange because Velma pulled her off-stage prior to where the lines would have been said. There were some other nips and tucks throughout. It also seemed like, "You Can't Stop the Beat" was somewhat truncated.

Angela Birchett's rendition of, "I Know Where I've Been" gave me chills and the audience gave her such an ovation at the conclusion of the song.

I also noticed that the actress who played Brenda sang the bridge after, "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now". Both she and the actress playing Shelley are the Tracy understudies.

That being said, this is a first rate cast in a very scaled down tour. The audience was also very responsive. I felt this show was better suited for The Warner as opposed to The Kennedy Center's Opera House where it played almost 3 years ago.

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 12:36am

Was it a single night stop? Or more than one performance? It's coming to a huge huge theatre next weekend in Boston (the Wang) and i'm hoping they unload the full set.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 12:42am

They've been here all week. Tomorrow they have two shows.

I was just informed that a lot of the set couldn't fit into the Warner Theatre.

Updated On: 4/20/08 at 12:42 AM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 8:59am

I was also informed that the nips and tucks that I noticed in the show were incorporated from the 90 minute version.

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 9:41am

Hey there! I'm going tonight, and I was delighted when I saw your review. Never seen Hairspray, very excited! JUst one question though, how well was the house sold. We didn't buy tickets in advance (12 dollar service charges), so do you think we'll be able to get at least two seats together and one seat apart? Thanks!

[James885]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 10:25am

Glad to see you liked the show Dottie! I was thiking about catching it myself. One thing I love about the Warner and the National is that they're both a lot more intimate, compared to the cavernous Opera House at the Kennedy Center. When I saw both Hairspray and Little Women there a few summers ago, both shows seemed to be dwarfed. Little Women especially.

Updated On: 4/20/08 at 10:25 AM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 11:23am

The show last night was full (at least from the orchestra). I was in row R, but I would say the last three or four rows were empty. This show was not available on ticketplace so I paid full price. I don't think you'll have any problems scoring last minute seats. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Out of all the shows I've seen at The Kennedy Center, the one's that played well at the Opera House were Wicked and believe it or not, The Light in the Piazza. I totally agree about Little Women and Hairspray; they were dwarfed there and the sound was so flat.

[ohjustjake]

Posted: 4/20/08 at 12:34pm

I don't understand why this isn't still an Equity tour - they are making far enough money to have the same set as on Broadway.

[antonijan]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 1:16am

It's here in SF now and we got tix for tue :)

Can't wait to add another playbill to my collection!

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 7:02am

Have fun antonijan!

Glad you enjoyed yourself DottieD'Luscia!

[NYCboy2]

Posted: 6/11/08 at 3:53pm

thanks for your review!