August 16, 2004
-
Hairspray – The Stage Musical
Just got back from seeing Hairspray, the stage musical. What absolutely gorgeous sets and tight performances from a talented bunch of actors. Being so close to the stage in the second row sure helped!
OK, so if you ever wondered how this version differs from the John Waters movie…
- The actors and dancers all do the 60′s novelty dances, but the dances themselves are not identified by name, and have no story significance as they did in the movie. The story is focussed more on the character drama. Even the ‘Corny Collins Show’ here, was more about teens being on TV; less about them introducing new dances. The Madison Time song and dance had also been rearranged/modified so that it was clearly not the 60′s version.
In an interview with the choreographer,
… One thing he didn’t do was try to replicate the movie. “I had seen Hairspray when it first came out,” he says. “And when I was offered the musical, I watched the movie once–the same thing I did with The Full Monty. Then I never went back. You could fall into a real pit if you watch it too much, because in a movie, the camera tells an audience where to look. Onstage, your dance has to tell 2,500 heads where to look.”
- No beatniks!
- Velma Von Tussel (originally played by Debbi Harry in the movie) has a more prominent role. She is also the Producer of the ‘Corny Collins Show.’
- Mrs Pingleton, Penny’s mother has less of a presence and isn’t as racist as the movie version.
- Link (the heartthrob) doesn’t fall instantly in love with Tracy Turnblad as he did in the movie. He is torn between his rockstar ambitions and Tracy’s revolutionary cause.
- And of course, all the tunes were new, which thankfully maintained a sort-of ‘retro’ sound… (though we still prefer the original 60′s tunes!)
An observation: Here we have a show about racial intergration (with a balanced mix of black and white cast) and the audience was 99% white and mostly over 50. Eddie whispered to me - ”I don’t think most of these people have seen the movie. They’re just your regular theater people”.
Which makes me wonder why musical theater has to be so elitist (read: expensive). Sure, it feels like a luxury compared to the movies, there are amazing sets, costumes and unbelievable dedication from the performers night after night…but … shouldn’t all good entertainment deserve mixed audiences?
Other stuff we watched this weekend (on DVD):
- The Warriors - Believe it or not, the first time I’ve sat through the entire film! (And Eddie’s 4th time!! He says he can watch the whole movie over and over again)
- Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter - Very tragic Japanese ‘exploitationist’ movie involving a girl gang, and some nasty guys who hunt down and kill half-breeds.The director,Yasuharu Hasebe also directed Black Tight Killers which we couldn’t resist ordering, based on this review -
Part spy film and part pulp novel Black Tight Killers was Nikkatsu’s answer to the “James Bond” films. The female assassin’s known as the Black Tight killers have assortment of deadly objects like blinding bubble gum, razor-sharp 7″ vinyl, exploding golf balls and exploding bra pads. This movie is more campy then serious and the beautiful cinematography makes up for the incoherent plot. Even though the Black Tight Killers isn’t as inspired as Seijun Suzuki’s films, Yasuharu Hasebe takes what he had learned from Seijun Suzuki and comes away with a style all his own.
