Hairspray, Teasing Audiences All Week Long at Proctors.

SCHENECTADY – Hairspray, the musical based on the 1988 John Waters film of the same name, is about an overweight teenage Tracy Turnblad living in Baltimore in 1962, who goes to audition and ultimately scores a place on The Corny Collins Show, a locally produced TV dance show. When she gets on the show, Tracy becomes an overnight star and begins to lead a crusade of social justice to desegregate the show.

At first, one is blinded by the music, the costumes, and the choreography.  With a deeper dive, the show is about the tumultuous 60s and the beginning of a decade-long crusade for change and equality. So we are presented with a very layered production, all wrapped around an incredibly funny, caustic, and pointed script. With music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Whitman, the Mark O’Donnell Thomas Meehan book entertains and provokes. 

The show is electric to watch. This young cast pours their hearts and souls into the music and the dancing. Beginning with Tracy’s anthem to Baltimore, “Good Morning Baltimore,” Niki Metcalf’s Tracy literally jumps out of bed and never stops for the entirety of her time on stage. Metcalf comes to the Proctors stage with some extra baggage. She is a Saugerties native. For this native daughter to come to a stage in her home arena must be both exciting and nerve-wracking. Clearly, the opening night audience was totally in her corner from the first note until they jumped to their feet for her final curtain. Metcalf does not disappoint. Her voice is strong, her dancing energetic, and her acting sincere.

The cast is filled with talent. Greg Kalafatas is Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s very full-figured mother, traditionally played in drag (most noticeably by Harvey Fierstein) is a delight. He makes the role his own, yet at the same time has kept much of what Fierstein made famous. He moves his considerable girth around the stage with the same grace and ease as the rest of the much more diminutive, by comparison, cast.

Billy Dawson is Corny Collins, the shallow plastic TV host. Nick Cortazzo is Link Larkin, the star dancer who Tracy falls for. Tracy’s best friend, the uptight Penny Pingleton, is played by Emery Henderson. Penny’s even more tightly wound mother, Prudy, is inhabited by Emmanuelle Zeesman. Charlie Bryant III is Seaweed, the young man of color who immediately has a mutual attraction for Penny. And Tracy’s father, Wilbur, is beautifully portrayed by Ralph Prentice Daniel. All fill the stage with excitement, joy, and amazing voices. 

Sandie Lee, as the blonde, buxom Motormouth Maybelle, is the woman of color who tempers Tracy’s youthful exuberance with the reality of adulthood when it comes to her desire to integrate the Corny Collins Show. She supports them, yet wants them to know the maelstrom they are heading into. Her number, “I Know Where I’ve Been,” is an anthem for change and encouragement, as well as a reality check for the group as to where life has taken Motormouth and what lies before them on the bumpy road for Tracy and her friends. 

The music is authentic. The love song “You’re Timeless to Me,” between the oversize Edna and much more petite Wilbur, elicits a well-deserved encore. A few ad-libs in that number will keep those familiar with the show on their toes.  Of course the show’s finale, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” will have you dancing up the aisles as you exit the theatre.

Matt Lenz’s direction keeps the show on its toes, briskly moving the action along. Robbie Roby’s choreography couples seamlessly with Jack O’Brien’s original choreography. William Ivy Long’s costume design and Paul Huntley and Bernie Ardia’s over-the-top (quite literally) wig design create a joyful cartoon of the ’60s.

Hairspray is packed with message, fun, song, and dance. It’s an irresistible two-plus hours that will find you having as much fun in your seats as the cast of more than 30 performers does on the stage.  Proctors will be hosting Tracy, Edna, and company through Sunday, Dec.11. For information visit www.proctors.org or call the box office at (518) 346-6204.