I’ve
written a couple pieces now on Hairspray’s
story and the themes and ideas presented in it, but I want to come back around
and actually review the NBC live production of it, which was recently streamed
through Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel. These TV
live musicals are always hit-or-miss, the big question usually being, what’s
the ratio between the two? Hairspray
Live! has definite issues, but for me, the production comes down more on
“hit” than “miss.”
Tracy
Turnblad, an exuberant teenage girl living in Baltimore in the 1960s, is
obsessed with The Corny Collins Show,
where the local teen stars dance to the latest hits. An avid dancer herself,
Tracy jumps at the chance to audition when the show announces a vacancy. But
while some people on the show initially try to hold her back due to her weight,
Tracy is soon presented with a larger, more ideological challenge: after
befriending a Black dancer, her dream shifts from just being on The Corny Collins
Show to helping to integrate it.
In
these live musical events, the casting is always the deciding factor, and Hairspray Live! gets a lot right. Newcomer
Maddie Baillio is energetic and winning as Tracy, Ephraim Sykes shows off some
impressive dancing as her friend Seaweed, and Dove Cameron brings a lot to the
table as mean girl Amber. Original cast member Harvey Fierstein reprises his
role as Tracy’s mom Edna, Martin Short has just the right kooky energy as Tracy’s
dad, and Dancing with the Stars pro
Derek Hough does a nice job as Corny. The production’s MVP, hands-down, is
Kristin Chenoweth as The Corny Collins
Show’s vain, bigoted producer, Velma. I’ve never paid much attention to
Velma as a role, but Chenoweth absolutely slays her big number and maintains
the comedy in the villainous part without taking away from how gross Velma is.
(Also, color me surprised when I realized that the Little Inez here is none
other than Shahadi Wright Joseph, who went on to play Zora in Us!)
There
are a few misfires, though. Ariana Grande never fully lands for me as Penny,
and Garrett Clayton is kind of a lackluster Link. And while Jennifer Hudson,
playing Motormouth Maybelle, sings as great as ever, I find it a little harder
to connect with her acting.
On
the whole, it’s a fun, peppy production that keeps things snapping. If I had a
complaint to make about the production as a whole, it’s that it appears to
largely replicate the original Broadway production, and not just by bringing
back Fierstein. The set, costumes, and choreography all look like clips or
photos I’ve seen from the original show, and I don’t really thing there’s a
need to do that. The beauty of theatre is making each new production or
performance its own creation, and when this was made, there was no reason to
try and copy the same design and feel of a production that opened 14 years
earlier and closed years earlier. On that level, the production feels like it’s
playing it “safe” by recreating proven formats instead of trying its own ideas.
Yes, granted, it’s not like I expect a ton of creative risk from a network TV
live musical, but I still think it’s a missed opportunity.
Warnings
No comments:
Post a Comment