In our divisive world, what we need is action, but what we want is entertainment. Entertainment is the focus of the original Hairspray but, by ignoring the parts of the musical that audiences love, SMC’s production of Hairspray: The Broadway Musical lost its strength when it had barely even begun.
Starring Hannah Lazare as Tracy Turnblad, Robert Bazzocchi as Link Larkin, and Brendan Rush as Edna Turnblad, Hairspray tells the story of a plucky plus-size girl who uses her desire to stand up and stand out to lead a dance revolution in 1960s Baltimore. Tracy makes it onto The Corny Collins Show using her personality and skill and manages to change her community’s perspective with her friends, Seaweed and Little Inez. The show brings forward the injustice behind an American culture that rejects those who are not thin, white, and conventionally perfect.
SMC’s production of this classic makes a valiant attempt to highlight the parallels between injustice in our society today and that of America in the ’60s but ultimately succumbs to the issues the show aims to shed light on. At the beginning of the show, Lazare starts the classic number “Good Morning Baltimore” in bed, swimming in her own sunny disposition. When the blanket is removed, we see that Lazare is poorly padded around her stomach and back.
Being plus-size is one of the key points of Tracy’s character and the plot; putting padding on the lead actor entirely alters the message. By the end of the play, it’s clear that Lazare hit her best moment of the play with “Good Morning Baltimore.” Her character feels stagnant and she doesn’t stand out among all of the other big personalities on stage, namely her scene partner Penny (Jamie Fiuza).
Throughout the show, Lazare’s co-stars seem to struggle with the same problem. Bazzocchi hits his stride with quirky comedic moments, making the audience laugh and swoon during “I Can Hear the Bells,” but his jokes feel forced in scenes involving Link’s desire for Tracy. Rush, as Edna, does almost the opposite of Bazzocchi in this regard. Rush makes Edna’s classic one liners feel sad and fearful of the world—a credit to Rush’s acting ability, but a detriment to the character of Edna.
Rush, however, gives us the Edna we were starving for with the number “(You’re) Timeless to Me.” Paired with Kody McCann’s beautifully kooky Wilbur Turnblad, the two bring the show’s musical elements to the level they should have been for the whole performance: high energy and full of fun. The two pace perfectly through the charming jokes and booming voices to land on a kiss that has the audience up and screaming.
These amazing numbers continue with Rose-Ingrid Benjamin, Vanessa Jev, and Taylor Cenac as The Dynamites, and Sasha L’Henry as Motormouth Maybelle. These ladies were by far the strongest singers of the group and they kept the energy up in scenes that needed the push. Having an all-plus-size Dynamites filled part of the gap that a padded Tracy left, and you could see the pure joy on each of their faces when it came time for their solos.
This performance of Hairspray had one of the strongest supporting casts I have seen in a UofT student production; in the end, though, this experience still left me with a yearning to go home and watch the 2007 film instead.
“Rush makes Edna’s classic one liners feel sad and fearful of the world—a credit to Rush’s acting ability, but a detriment to the character of Edna.”
How dare an actor give a one-dimensional character depth. There is no place for good acting in the theatre.