By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-976610.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Tallahassee's Young Actors Theatre kicks off a new production this Friday evening. Tom Flanigan reports it's a story that began life as a movie, became a musical, turned into another movie and is now back on the stage again.
The scene is Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1962. It's a place and time that a certain offbeat movie maker tried to capture on film back in 1988. Tallahassee Young Actors Theatre Artistic Director Robert Stuart says the story didn't end there.
"John Waters did an original movie called Hairspray' that starred Divine, Sonny Bono was in it, and Rikki Lake. Then they made it into a musical with John Waters' blessing and approval and that starred Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jarret Winolkur and Matthew Morrison as Link' of Glee' fame and it racked up at the Tonys."
The Broadway show also had great success on the road. Then a second movie version came out nine years after the original. This one featuring Nikki Blonsky in the leading role, along with Hollywood "A" listers such as Brittany Snow, Michelle Pheiffer, Christopher Walken and John Travolta in drag. About a year ago, the stage version became available to community theatres like Young Actors.
"We jumped right on it because Worth Williams-Hages who graduated from Young Actors - the daughter of our founder Tina Williams - she played Amber Von Tussle in the first national Broadway tour, so it was just the right time for us to do it, and so she came on to do the original choreography and there are two other choreographers with the show and Worth is directing it using the original directions, so it's been fun."
Beyond the principal players, there is a huge supporting cast. There are nearly fifty people on stage and even in the theatre aisles at various times. Stuart says that makes for a production that doesn't let up.
"It's a tough show. It has a lot of components. The story never ends. I mean, it's constantly moving, you see all the scene changes. It flows so beautifully. It's like a train and it's rolling down that track and it's going to keep going and so you've got to get on board or you're going to be left at the station."
Combine that with a strong story line and message and Stuart says it's a triple threat entertainment package.
"You CAN be an individual and make a difference in the world, so I think it's really uplifting. It's got great music, great dance, hilarious lines. I think that it appeals to all ages. There's something for everyone, really."
This Friday night is opening night for "Hairspray" at Tallahassee's Young Actors Theatre on Glenview Drive. The curtain goes up at seven-thirty. The production runs through the twenty-fourth of this month.