Review: HAIRSPRAY at Stifel Theatre

The current national tour of HAIRSRAY is visiting The Stifel Theatre in St. Louis with two performances on February 8th and 9th. This production is led by St. Louisan Caroline Eiseman with an effervescent performance as the optimistic Tracy Turnblad. HAIRSPRAY continues to fill houses across the country 22 years after it premiered on Broadway.  

HAIRSPRAY is among the most successful adaptations of a non-musical films. The original Broadway production enjoyed a 6-year run with 2,642 performances making it the 24th longest running show in Broadway history. After two decades, this production is as fresh and entertaining as it's always been thanks to the upbeat and memorable score from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and the energetic performances from a stellar cast.  

HAIRSPRAY was adapted for the stage from the John Waters’ film about an unlikely teenage heroine integrating a television dance show in 1960s Baltimore. Shaiman and Wittman’s outstanding original score established a high bar for creating a musical adapted from a non-musical film. There have been very few musicals that have followed this formula and achieved a similar success. Shaiman and Wittman’s 60’s inspired score is filled with catchy upbeat songs including “Good Morning Baltimore,” “Mama I’m a Big Girl Now,” “Welcome to the 60’s,” and the tsunami of fun “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”  

This tour is perfectly cast. Eiseman’s Tracy is a wave of positive energy bounding across the stage with unbridled enthusiasm. She makes Tracy an infectious dancing force. Greg Kalafatas delivers one of the most heartfelt performances by an actor ever to don Edna’s house dress. He portrays Edna as a caring and protective mother and wife, handles the score magnificently, and shows impeccable comedic timing. His slow and threatening turn to take on Velma Von Tussle after she insulted Tracy was a lesson in musical theatre comedy. Everyone in the theatre anticipated Edna’s protective fury and Kalafatas didn’t disappoint.  

Diedre Lang’s (Motormouth Maybelle) wows the audience with her dynamite explosive performance of “I Know Where I’ve Been,” and her equally powerful closing verse of “You Can’t Stop the Beat.” The handsome twosome of Josiah Rogers (Seaweed J. Stubbs) and Skyler Shields’ (Link Larkin) employ their exceptional vocal and dancing talents to elevate Seaweed and Link to matinee idol status. Rogers’ channels his best James Brown to slay the audience with his performance of “Run and Tell That.” Sheild’s matches the dynamic energy of Eiseman with his singing and dancing, but it is his dishy good looks, reminiscent of a young Chris Evans in “Not Another Teen Movie” that adds to his believability as the teen heartthrob on The Corny Collins Show.  

The mother/daughter pairs of Sarah Hayes (Velma Von Tussle), Caroline Portner (Amber Von Tussle), Emmanuelle Zeesman (Prudy Pingleton), and Scarlett Jacques (Penny Pingleton), deliver a playful rendition of “Momma I’m a Big Girl Now” with Eiseman and Kalafatas. Zeesman does triple duty as Prudy, the Gym Teacher, and the Matron in a hilarious demonstration of physical comedy. Her resemblance to Jackie Hoffman, who originated the roles on Broadway, is uncanny.  

As with many national tours of older musicals, the sets become a bit less lustrous. The set of this tour relied more heavily on curtain back drops and projections with minimized set pieces. There was also an opportunity to improve the sound mixing during Thursday’s performance. The cast members leading the songs could have used additional microphone volume. But in no way do these two criticisms decrease the enjoyment of the overall production. This show belonged to this terrific cast whose boundless talent and exuberant dancing delivered a joyous production of HAIRSPRAY.  

There is an additional performance of HAIRSPRAY at The Stifel Theatre on February 9th at 7:30pm. Click the link below to purchase tickets.

Photo Credit: (C) Jeremy Daniel 

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