After a spot of shopping at South Wharf and a bite to eat in Chinatown, S and I were ready to take out (uncomfortable— one of the reasons I’m not a fan on the Princess) seats and enjoy the show.
I haven’t seen the original 1988 movie, but I’ve seen the 2007 re-make and I know all the music (even the ones they annoyingly decided to leave out of the re-make).
I was really excited for the show, and as it was a Tuesday night, I was expecting an understudy or two, but we were lucky enough to be treated to the full regular cast. But as the curtain call ended and everyone started to leave, S and I turned to each other, both of us left incredibly underwhelmed.
The opening number, Good Morning Baltimore, is supposed to be big, loud and set the scene. Unfortunately, it does none of the above. Jaz Flowers, who plays Tracy Turnblad, has a booming voice, and looks great on stage, but was stiff in the opening number. At first I put this to the fact she is a relative newcomer to the stage, but as the play progressed, I became more and more disappointed with the choreography. I was really excited to see (Hairspray choreographer) Jason Coleman work his magic, but well, he didn’t. There was a lot of standing still, but in saying that, there were some moments that were ‘wow’, like You can’t stop the beat.
The setting (those who are familiar with the Princess Theatre will understand) was displayed on backing screens; there wasn’t actually a ‘set’ per se. It was also cartoonish, which worked to a certain extent because of the fun, up-beat nature of the musical. However, after a while, it just gave me a headache. In my opinion, the backing screens mixed with tangible setting pieces would have worked much better.
A major positive for the musical was the casting. They all worked well and cohesively, as you would expect, but my absolute favourite was Esther Hannaford who plays Penny Pingleton. She is a breath of fresh air, and absolutely hilarious. Trevor Ashley (Edna Turnblad) and Grant Piro (Wilbur Turnblad) are also stand outs, and the Tuesday November 23 audience were treated to something a bit special from these two. During (You’re) Timeless To Me, this two ran into a bit of trouble. I’m not completely sure if one of them forgot a line, or a move of some-sort, but at one stage Ashley turned his back on the audience trying to hold back his laughter, the two over came it well however, and involved the audience. There are also a few familiar faces in the cast. Jack Chambers, winner of SYTYCD 2008, plays Link Larkin. He isn’t any Zac Efron, but the boy can dance and sing. Motormouth Maybelle is played by Cle Morgan, a top twelve contestant from the first season of Australian Idol (She was good, but not as boisterous as Maybelle needed to be). I also spotted another SYTYCD finalist, Heath Keating, in the chorus. Although, I kept a close eye on him whilst he was dancing and showing off his amazing technique, I couldn’t help but worry he was going to break his ankle again!
The Without Love number was a big disappointment, again I look at the (lack of?) choreography to be the reason why. But, the thing that shattered me the most, the thing that I was looking forward to was (Come So Far) Got So Far To Go, which wasn’t played. In the 2007 film version, the song is played during the credits, so I was expecting them to do it for curtain call. And it would have been a perfect song for curtain call. S and I were shattered!
What sums up the show most was during curtain call. Piro was trying to get the audience on their feet; a few jumped up enthusiastically, a few stood up reluctantly, a few stood up because now they couldn’t see, and many remained seated.
Hairspray is worth seeing, the highs do outweigh the lows, however, don’t set your sights too high, or you will leave disappointed.
It’s okay though; S and I drove home pumping Hairspray tunes with the windows down, and had an extra loud sing-a-long to (Come So Far) Got So Far To Go.
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