Producers Dave and Ed Mirvish have once again taken an award-winning Broadway show and created a more than reasonable facsimile that will be bringing in the bus loads from Buffalo for months, perhaps years, to come.
Based on the campy John Waters' film of the same name, Hairspray is set in 1962 Baltimore. Its unlikely heroine is Tracy Turnblad, achubby, irrepressible teen who dreams of appearing on a local TV dance show, winning the heart of the handsome Link Larkin and furthering the cause of desegregation.
You see, The Corny Collins Show is for white kids only, except for a once a month - "Negro Day." Tracy doesn't think this is right, and she risks everything to integrate the dance floor. Don't for a minute think that this gives Hairspray any gravitas, but it does allow the music to borrow shamelessly from Motown.
Hairspray is jammed with Marc Shaiman's catchy, '60s pop-inspired tunes. (Did some spoilsport say derivative?) One of several showstoppers, Welcome to the '60s, has a Supremes-style trio supplying a chorus powerful enough to win over any audience members still trying to resist Hairspray's charms. Chances are most were seduced by the very first song, Good Morning Baltimore, belted out by Vanessa Olivarez as Tracy. Olivarez has the powerful voice you'd expect from an American Idol finalist. She's not much of an actress, but enthusiasm is really all that's needed to play this role effectively.
The role of Tracy's mother, Edna, is traditionally played by a man. (The role was played by female impersonator Divine in the movie and the raspy-voiced Harvey Fierstein on Broadway.) The Toronto production features Jay Brazeau, who does a good job balancing on high heels. Brazeau is at his best, however, when he's paired with Tom Rooney as Wilbur Turnblad, Tracy's sweet, loving Dad. (Yes, this is the same Tom Rooney who played Hamlet at the NAC in January.) In Hairspray, Rooney makes an indelible impression as a loveable kook who runs a joke shop and is madly in love with his gargantuan wife. His duet with Brazeau, Timeless to Me is a funny, sentimental ode to middle-aged love.
Three members of the cast call Ottawa home. Michael Torontow plays Link Larkin. He's handsome, a little bland (which is what the script calls for) and does a great job with his song It Takes Two. Alison Smyth and Nicolas Dromard are properly perky as dancers on The Corny Collins Show. (Smyth gets a few solo bars to display her classically trained voice.)
The supporting cast is rich in talent. Fran Jaye as Motormouth Maybelle gives a rivetting rendition of the gospel-inspired I Know Where I've Been. Matthew Morgan has a sexy magnetism as her son Seaweed. Jennifer Stewart as Tracy's best friend Penny falls hard for Seaweed and does a great turn going from gawky to gorgeous.
There are outrageious comic performances from Susan Henley as the cruel, racist Velma Von Tussle and Tara Macri as Amber, her even more offensive daughter who is also Tracy's rival in the Miss Hairspray contest.
All this action is played out on a candy-coloured set with characters wearing blindingly bright costumes and enormous smiles. In the whole evening there's only one hint of subversiveness, and it was greeted with laughter and applause. Surveying the scene at an impromptu party at Motomouth Maybelle's record store, on e of the black characters cracks, "If we get any more white people in here, we're going to have a suburb."
That line was probably penned by co-writer Thomas Meehan, who also co-wrote the book for that far more cynical offering, The Producers, playing a short cab ride away at the Canon Theatre.
In the end, Hairspray's theme is not racial integration, it's self-esteem, feeling good about yourself no matter what your size, shape or colour. These qualities destine the show to become a favourite production at high schools across North America. Just think, fat but talented girls everywhere are going to have their turn to shine and get the guy.
Hairspray runs indefinitely at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Tickets & times, 416-872-1212.