National Tour Review: HAIRSPRAY 'Cotton Candies' Miami

(J.P. Dougherty and Keala Settle)

What a sweet musical this is. Quirky also. Energetic, colorful, sometimes moving. Occasionally witty. HAIRSPRAY is sprightly and lively. Heck, it was a joy watching conductor Jim Vukovich playing with the audience at the top of act two. Speaking of act two, as they say, what a difference an act makes.

While never really less than first rate, HAIRSPRAY's first act is vastly inferior to its second. Or to put it another way, there were more ingredients to make HAIRSPRAY my tasty cup of tea in its second half.

For it is in act two that HAIRSPRAY has its finest moments in the duet Timeless to Me and in the diva moments given to the character of Motormouth. Charlotte Crossley as Motormouth practically steals the show. She is straddled with some clunky dialogue, courtesy of book writers Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meahan. Then she is clumsily but thankfully added to the number You Can't Stop the Beat. She is dynamite and the audience tonight cheered her performance. Ms. Crossley deserves better "lead in" material to her outstanding solos. She also deserves a better bow in this show. Ms. Crossley, by power of her performance if not the length of her part, simply bows too early and not by herself. She earns a solo bow and in the current production her bow should be the last before the bows of the performers playing Wilbur, Edna and Tracy.

(Ensemble)

HAIRSPRAY is an eye popping and fetching show that only drags on occasion. But more about drag later. I wish book writers O'Donnell and Meehan had made this a funnier show. Instead, the book of the show comes across much more like an episode of the sitcom A Different World. This show is indeed preachy, and "messagy." Unfortunately, the lines for the preachy often come out creaky. There are times when amusing lines are indeed performed by gifted comic performers. The show simply could use more of them.

I have never seen the John Waters film upon which this musical is based. It is early 1960s in Baltimore, and Tracy is a fat teenager, who is a great dancer and wants to be a star and also wants people of all colors to be able to dance together. She becomes heroic in her quests and in this case the fat girl even gets the gorgeous guy, Link. Aaron Tveit as Link is gorgeous as required, as wonderful as the rest of the ensemble and his singing just needs to be a bit stronger.

Speaking of ensembles, this company of singing and dancing performers worked their hearts and feet out for us. Jane Blass was particularly impressionable, impressive and funny in her roles as the prison matron, the gym teacher and Prudy Pingleton.

In fairness to Mr. Tveit, his most important scenes are shared with Keala Settle as Tracy. Most entertainers would indeed seem dwarfed by the grand, sincere, precious, and beautifully sung performance given by Ms. Settle in the lead role. A triple threat if there ever was one, Keala Settle is sublime and will steal your heart as Tracy.

I am not positive why the part of Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother, is played by a man in drag. I know the transvestite Divine played the part in the film, so I guess it is simply tradition or part of being "in the John Waters world." I confess to never having been a fan of drag performances in general. It is no different here. The second time J.P. Dougherty, as Edna, drops his voice to its lowest register to achieve a laugh is enough. I don't think many in tonight's audience enjoyed this "laugh getter" being used as often as it was. Once was adequate. I am really not sure whether I liked Mr. Dougherty's performance or not, because it is not a terribly large part. The highlight of his performance is the show's highlight, Timeless to Me, the duet performed between Edna and her husband Wilbur. Frankly, I will always wonder how Harvey Fierstein played this part to such wondrous acclaim. I suspect for the part of Edna to work as conceived for this musical, it needs to be played by someone with a uniqueness or that mystical thing they call star quality. Edna was not the star tonight.

Jim J. Bullock (didn't he used to spell Jim without the letter I?) was perhaps the evening's most engaging surprise. He is wonderful. He seems to elevate every scene he is in. It is his performance that brings the aforementioned Timeless to Me duet to memorable heights. It is also playing opposite Mr. Bullock as Wilbur, that J.P. Dougherty, has his best moments in this production. One wishes there had been more for Jim J. Bullock to do. I suspect there will be more ample roles in the musical theater for Mr. Bullock in the near future.

William Ivey Long is a costume design legend. His work here is what we have come to expect from this master. In HAIRSPRAY, Mr. Long's work is often not shown in the most flattering matter. His costumes certainly serve the material perfectly. The top notch, yet somewhat clichéd scenery is designed by David Rockwell. At times I wish his theatrical playground had looked somewhat "richer."

(Ensemble Members)

Jerry Mitchell's choreography is fun, energetic and at times inventive. He has great dancers as his disposal. Aside from the marvelous moments of dance given to Ms. Settle as Tracy, Mr. Mitchell did not break any new ground or particularly surprise us with his work on HAIRSPRAY.

Director Jack O'Brien has delightful confections in his candy box. He wisely concentrates on bringing out the sweetness, this show's most appealing attribute.

It is the score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman that I find most concerning. Was it too rocky for me? Too loud? Was it just me or did some of the songs seem rather similar to each other? The score, again, certainly serving the material, but also not supplying us with any of those moments that we lovers of musical theater dream for. The only truly memorable song moments for me were the cleverly staged opening tune, Good Morning Baltimore, the two solo turns given to Charlotte Crossley as Motormouth and the number that will likely be this show's legacy, Timeless to Me.

Interestingly, though clearly inspired from its 1960s time frame, it is the very show tune songs, not the "rocky" ones that seemed most enjoyed by tonight's audience and also most appreciated by this critic.

HAIRSPRAY's final performance at Miami Beach's Jackie Gleason Theater is February 26. It plays the Kravis Center in Palm Beach March 7-12.

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