You Can't Stop the Beat at WDL's Hairspray

By Jeff Gudzune
Jeff writes book reviews for a variety of publishers and is active in community theater. Since 2013, Jeff has owned and operated Matrix Notary Service.

A hallmark of good theater is the ability to entertain and inform. This is certainly the case with Hairspray, which opened to a sold-out audience at Wilmington Drama League (WDL) on Friday, May 30. This upbeat, toe-tapping explosion of hair gel and taffeta is the perfect cap for a wonderful season. Hairspray was an informed choice, as its themes parallel the world today.

The social issues confronted by the ensemble are the very same social issues facing young people today. Race relations, generational divides, body image, and socio-economic disparities are ever-present reminders of harsh reality. It is altogether fitting that WDL elected to cap its season with a show that encapsulates these concerns.

Hairspray at Wilmington Drama League. Photo by KRL Photography/Rich Lee.

Before the first note of the Introit, the audience is treated with a set that manages to be busy but in no way obnoxious. Grainy black and white monitors take us to a time when local television programs knitted the community together. In an opening number that stuns in its execution, the ensemble sets the scene. It is 1962. JFK is President. Rock and Roll is the zeitgeist of America’s youth. Hair is teased up and held together with aerosol spray and God’s work. Tracy Turnblad, rotund but stunning, wakes to another beautiful day in Baltimore. As she goes through her morning routine, the pressing social specters of communism and racial injustice are unimportant. She is America’s innocence personified.

With joy in her heart, Tracy sees the world as it should be. Jane Haracz shines as Tracy, bringing an energy to the role that had me entranced from the first scene. Tracy manages to captivate the heart of local all-American boy Link Larkin, who is first seen as self-absorbed but later revealed to be a young man at war with himself. Cole Miller’s vocal acuity is amazing and his visible transition from the veneer of stereotypical self-obsessed youth to a real kid with his own personal struggles provides wonderful context. Ashley Grantham is amazing as Edna Turnblad.

Supporting Tracy in her journey to stardom is Penny Lou Pingleton, played with such zest by Haley Hughes that it was difficult to hear her lines due to the audience laughing so vigorously. Shana Roberts performance as “Motormouth” Mabel ran through such a range of emotions that there was an audible pause after her rendition of “Big, Blonde and Beautiful” immediately followed by a standing ovation from the audience.

Hairspray is a timeless classic, wildly entertaining and spiritually uplifting. It makes a social commentary that is needed in the world of today. Through acrobatic choreography and musical performances that resonated so profoundly that the house itself vibrated, the show strikes all the right emotional chords. This performance is not to be missed.

Hairspray runs at Wilmington Drama League May 31 (SOLD OUT) and June 1 (2:00pm); June 6 & 7 (8:00pm) and June 8 (2:00pm); June 13 & 14 (8:00pm) and June 15 (2:00pm). Tickets are available at wilmingtondramaleague.org.