The Hairspray team -- a class act on THEATER TALK

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 9:20am

Separate from the Chenoweth/Menzel discussion, did anyone notice what a class act Shaiman and Whitman were with Riedel? Riedel kept reading v. nasty comments by Kander and Ebb (from their current book) re HAIRSPRAY, and though they made acerbic comebacks, inlc. a sly put-down of THE ACT, they basically took the high road. Even after learning that Fred Ebb was "offended" by their PG Tony kiss. Shaiman's HAIRSPRAY defense was simply that the show is far more traditional than Kander and Ebb are pigeonholing it to be. And said mostly nice things about Kander/Ebb. And when Riedel tried to get them to dump on Jackie Mason's current fiasco, Shaiman said "I just want everything to run..." The twinkle stayed in their eyes.

I guess what surprised/impressed me was how the proceedings didn't become mean-spirited. These guys have one of the few certifiable mega-hits on b'way (which okay, makes it easier to let stuff roll off your back), but they were devoid of the sort of smugness that sometimes accompanies success. And we got to see a great clip of Bruce Vilanch as Edna in the road company. He looks v.effective.

Updated On: 11/22/03 at 09:20 AM

[dvd]

Posted: 11/22/03 at 10:46am

I loved it! Good for them! what's Fred Ebb's problem?