Interview: Skyler Shields of HAIRSPRAY at National Arts Centre

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Skyler Shields, who plays Link Larkin in Broadway Across Canada’s upcoming presentation of Hairspray in Ottawa. Shields shared some thoughts on the tour, the musical’s overarching themes, and how the script has evolved over time.

How long have you been on the Hairspray tour?

I have an interesting story for that: last year, they were looking for a Link Larkin replacement for the last few weeks and I had been on a ship for the last year. When they sent out a notice that they were looking for new Link, I had just gotten off the ship. My agent sent me in for an in-person audition and then I was booked in for the last five weeks of the second leg. Now I'm here for the rest of this year’s tour.

I read in your bio that you worked with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Can you tell me more about what that’s like?

I think every young performer should do it! It's a great way to save money and to travel at a young age. It was a crazy experience, especially with the return to service post-Covid, but it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I met my current partner while I was there, and I made the most amazing friends all over the world. On: of my best friends is from New Zealand, one is from Scotland, and Royal Caribbean is a great company. I did Saturday Night Fever with them, and it was so much fun – but not as much fun as Hairspray!

How does it work? Do you perform in the evening and the rest of the time is free?

We have safety responsibilities that will do with the guests, so we'll do lifeboat drills once a week and introduce the guests when they first come on board. Then, we would do a check run for the safety of our show each week since there were so many flying and technical elements. But there was a long time where I was only doing eight shows a month, so I had a lot of free time.

Were you mostly travelling within the Caribbean, or did you get to go elsewhere?

A couple of ships will do the Mediterranean and Royal Caribbean has one ship that travels around Asia, but I was on a Western Caribbean ship for a long time. Our homeport was in Galveston, Texas, and we would do Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Honduras. For the back end of the contract, we were docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and we would go to Royal’s private island, Coco Cay, and the Bahamas.

How does it compare to be on a road tour now?

The most rewarding thing I have found is building stamina, because that’s something you don't really learn in school. There are usually a lot of short runs but the dream – the goal – is to be working consistently. Hairspray has so much energy: so much dancing and singing, so it's really teaching me how to be an athlete.

It has also been great to see a lot of different cities; last year I got to see Atlanta and L.A. We performed at the Dolby Theatre where I debuted, which was surreal… so I would say the most rewarding thing is learning how to treat myself like an athlete and going to places that I wouldn't have otherwise gone to.

How does it feel to be the teen heartthrob of the show?

[Laughs] It's great! It really is nice. Sometimes, the audience likes to cheer for Link. It's just a Link thing! But what is lovely is getting to play opposite the two incredible women who play Tracy Turnblad (Caroline Eiseman and Amy Rodriguez). And Link has a cool story arc where he doesn't realize that what's going on in the TV show, what's going on in Baltimore, isn't okay. He's just kind of a follower and he wants his dream to come true; he thinks that if he does what he's told and falls in line, it’s going to happen for him. But the storyline with Tracy opening his mind as to how to integrate the television show, what it means to do the right thing, and how someone can be influenced to change their mind about the world around them is so cool – as opposed to like something like Grease, for example.

What, would you say, are Link’s best and worst character features?

For his best feature, I think he is really confidant; he’s suave. For his worst feature, I would say he's a little naïve and gullible; he doesn’t always think for himself, but I like to think he has a big heart.

Do you have a favourite song from the show – whether it's your own song or not – or a favourite moment in the show?

My favorite moment is during “(You’re) Timeless to Me”; it's a song that Edna and Wilbur sing, where Wilbur says, “when I need a lift; time brings a gift; another day with you” and, to me, that line encapsulates the heart of Hairspray. It shows that kind of human connection that we all crave, and finding the joy of realizing that, when life brings us down, we have each other. I think it's a beautiful message – there are so many messages in Hairspray, but that’s the one that resonates with me the most.

As for a favourite song, for me it’s “You Can’t Stop the Beat” because It kicks my butt every night! It's a privilege to do this choreography every night because it's so intense; it's so high energy and we’re singing at the top of our lungs. The choreography is so iconic and – it's crazy – I think about all the people who have played this role before me, like Matthew Morrison and Aaron Tveit. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm wearing the suit from the original tour production with Aaron, which is nuts! I think we could maybe use a new one look; it’s starting to look a little yellow [laughs] but, you know, it's cool to think about who walked in your shoes before.

And you're part of the next generation who will have people saying the same thing about you in twenty years from now!

Oh my goodness, I hope so!

Have they made any updates to the show?

Yes – I was happy that they adjusted certain things in the show; they have updated some of the language. At the very end, Motormouth used to say she doesn't see white from black, and now she says that she sees both white and black – so it takes a step in the direction of colour consciousness, rather than colour blindness. In the gym scene, they used to call Tracy a s**t and the R-word, and now they just make a joke that she's fast and slow at the same time, so they updated the language, which is wonderful. It shows how much the show has evolved over time to stay relevant, and Jerry Mitchell and Jack O’Brien are still very hands-on with the show to keep it ever-changing and ever-growing. Even for the cast, in terms of movement and acting, the creative team wants us to create our own version of the characters, so that the story feels authentic, rather than replicating a museum piece of art.

That makes sense. Can you tell me a bit about Edna, Tracy’s mother’s character, whose role is usually played by a male actor?

Yes, the character is always played by a man; in our production, Edna is played by Greg Kalafatas and he's wonderful! I'd love to play Edna one day myself if the time comes because it's a hilarious role. The way Greg plays it is so touching and sincere, and it's not over the top. It's still hilarious because he is such a good comedian, but he also has a wonderful relationship with Tracy and shows that mother-daughter love and support. Greg’s chemistry with Caroline is great, which makes it really touching to watch.

Earlier, you touched on the fact that Hairspray has so many different themes. Some of those themes feel even more relevant today they did in 1988, when the original film came out. What do you think is the most important message of the show for a modern audience, and what would you like them to take away with them after seeing the show?

That’s a heavy question! I think one of the biggest themes of the show is not just equality, but equity for all people. In Tracy’s story, she is being judged for her size and how she looks, and I think that the overarching theme is not to judge a book by its cover, whether that is a person’s weight, how they look, their race, or how they identify. There are still a lot of people who seem to make lightheartedness out of other people suffering, and I think the show illuminates that – at least for me, as a cast member. When there are so many bad jokes that got thrown at Tracy, I can only imagine what must be like to be hear those kinds of things and be made to feel that way over and over again. Hairspray sends a message to show people that it's okay to be different, even though it might be hard at times. I hope the audience reflects on how things maybe haven't changed as much as we like to hope. Yes, television is integrated, we support all body sizes, and we can recognize that everyone is beautiful in their own way, but I still think we can take a deeper look at ourselves and try to find little ways that we can make differences with people in our community.

You can see Skyler Shields as Link Larkin during Broadway Across Canada’s presentation of Hairspray in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre from November 14th through 19th. Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.

Check out the tour's promotional video:

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.