#1
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.
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.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
