Take Your Hair-Hopper Friends to See Hairspray!

Hairspray is based on John Waters’ fun-loving 1988 film, in which the auteur director explored early 1960’s pop culture, integration, and high hair in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. In the early 2000s, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan wrote the Broadway musical based on Mr. Waters’ original screenplay and it became a Broadway hit. The Delaware All-State Theatre (DAST) is now producing the musical in Newark, DE. DAST gives students throughout Delaware the chance to showcase their theatrical talents in an annual large-scale musical production. In this production, the students tell the zany and sentimental story of a fictional trailblazer, Tracy Turnblad.  

You know you’re in for a real treat when the curtain opens and our large teenage heroin Tracy (Amanda Garcia-Walker) sings “Good Morning Baltimore” and introduces us to her city and some of its most colorful residents. We soon find out that Tracy and her best friend Penny Pingleton (Emily Freebery) aren’t very concerned with school, but are more fascinated by the “Nicest Kids in Town,” the exclusive teenage Council Member dancers on The Corny Collins Show (an American Bandstand like TV show based in Baltimore). The TV show host Corny (Chad Michael Jervis), and his Council Members, led by star couple Amber VonTussle (Lydia Stinson) and Link Larkin (Nicholas Michael), entertain teenaged Baltimoreans with their exuberant dance moves.

Tracy learns of an opening on the Show when one of the Council Members has to suddenly leave.  She decides this is her moment and that she’s going to skip school to audition for the spot. Understanding what it’s like to be a “big girl” and how people can sometimes be cruel to larger people, her seamstress mother Edna (Ben Walker) tries to discourage her daughter from auditioning. However, Tracy’s novelty store owner/inventor father Wilbur (Gregory Wolf) encourages her to follow her dream, and she does. Auditioning for the show doesn’t turn out exactly as Tracy plans; the Show’s “crabby” and sinister producer Velma (Bridget Carrow), who also happens to be Amber’s mother, thwarts her chances of becoming a Council Member, due to Tracy’s size. Velma also crushes the dreams of an African-American teenage girl who also attends the audition. Excusing her based on her skin color. 

Although Tracy may not have landed a spot on the Show, she did meet her dream-boy Link and she also realized her real mission in life after seeing the treatment of the African-American young lady – desegregating Baltimore. By the way, Tracy’s favorite day of The Corny Collins Show is “negro-day.” Once a month Motormouth Maybelle (Colleen Scott), an African-American record storeowner, hosts the Show with only African-American teenagers, including her son Seaweed J. Stubbs (Andre Revels), dancing in place of the Council Members. Tracy thinks everyday should be “negro-day” and that all the kids should be able to dance together.

Undeterred, Tracy goes back to school where she is placed in special education, due to her high hair. In her new class she meets Seaweed and he introduces her to hip dance moves that she can use to get Corny’s attention at her school’s dance that he’s hosting.  Does Tracy’s plan get her the spot on the Show? Will she and Link become boyfriend and girlfriend? Will she desegregate Baltimore? I don’t want to spoil all the FUN, so you will have to go see this toe-tapping musical to get the answers.

Jeffrey Santoro directs some of the most talented teenage performers in Delaware! His cast exudes excitement as they sing and dance across the magnificent set by Scenic Designer, Stefani Hansen. The uber-talented Miss. Garcia-Walker perfectly captures Tracy’s always-optimistic personality, while Mr. Walker easily transforms into Tracy’s loving mother Edna. His great comedic timing and Lucille Ball look leaves the audience in stitches! It takes a real man to play a woman. Unfortunately I can’t mention every stellar performance in my piece, but I would be remised if I didn’t mention two actresses, Miss Carrow as the villainous Velma and Miss Scott as the idealist Motormouth. Both young ladies bring their A-game and give exceptional performances with their respected musical numbers.    

Don’t miss this family-friendly extravaganza that everyone will enjoy; my 8-year-old friend Meara was enthralled by the show! Hairspray runs through July 1^st at the Thompson Theatre in the David Roselle Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Delaware. For information and tickets, visit www.dastonline.org.

Live in Wilmo: Gable Music Delivers to Chris White Gallery

By Guest Blogger, Sydney Schumacher, Public Relations Assistant, Arts in Media

[Author's Note: Elephant's Gerald did not perform this evening.] Arriving at the basement of the Chris White Gallery in Wilmington, I run into Jeremy Hebbel of Gable Music Ventures, one of the two masterminds behind the concert. He tells me to make myself comfortable and wanders off to shake hands and usher more people down to the performance space. Both Jeremy and Gable Co-Founder Gayle Dillman do a lovely job of making you feel welcome and have obviously put a lot of planning into the concert. Bravo, Gable!

I’m left to people-watch, and I take note of a group of four, friendly-looking guys who could easily be your next-door neighbors. They are The Way Home, the first band in the line up. The guys look casual, but sharp; they’re funny, a bit self-deprecating and quick-witted, mentioning that Wilmington brought them in contact with “the biggest picture of George Thorogood [they] have ever seen.”  Band members are guitarist James Hearne, keyboardist Henry Nam, drummer Nick Hughes and bass player Dan Drago.

Their first two songs are originals full of loud crescendos, instrumental interludes that showcase each members’ talents, and four-part harmonies that blow you away. They use these moments to their advantage, stopping the music to use only the power of their voices to move the tune along — a smart choice, in my opinion, since they are brilliant singers, individually and as a group. Next are songs off their album, On So Thin a Line, and they’re equally fantastic. There’s feeling behind the lyrics and the instrumental accompaniment is spot on. The guys even find time to squeeze in a mellowed-out version of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” for a minute. Their lyrics draw from anything they have an opinion on— the hate-able hot weather; the guitarist’s town that felt like its houses would slide down the hills from all the icy winters; relationships they’ve had; even life-affirming sentiments like “do or die” — all were intro stories to the tunes. As their set wound down (and Jeremy repeatedly gives them time-checks), they demonstrated their humor again by telling us this show “feel safe, where the monsters can’t get them,” and promise to return and work with Jeremy and Gayle again. Hopefully, they keep that promise!

The next band comes on in bright, traffic cone-orange shirts. They are called Crossing Oceans, which they explain is because of the lead guitarist, Walter Van Geffen, having crossed the ocean from Ireland to play with them. The drummer, John Clough, describes their sound as, “A little bit sloppy, a little bit bombastic…Delaware style.” When they perform, it’s the opposite of The Way Home — slow and soulful. The lead guitar melody and smooth beats recall a slow dance at a party, club, or long-ago school dance. John intros the next song with a big grin: “Now, let’s do one we stole from somebody…,” proving they’re funny guys, as well. They followed with an original, upbeat rock song that let the guitarists show off. Their next, “Lazy Afternoon,” featured guest singer, Sophie, as back up. Her voice cut a lovely harmony to the drummer’s, and allowed for something a different and definitely striking. They kept pace with what they labeled, “something a little jazzy.” Less vocals and a thumping tune made everyone clap along and made this song one of my favorites for the night. Sadly, they never told announced song’s name, making it impossible for me to hunt it down on the Internet and listen again.

           

Walter started up the next song, calling it “…something with a story to tell.” It’s definitely rock but has strong Irish roots, especially in the guitar’s melody line. They seemed to stick with the storytelling theme from there. They’re a smooth rock group, for sure. In the end, the audience called for an encore, and they gladly complied, saying, “This is our angry song.” And rightfully so. It was the loudest, fastest-paced one they’d done, changing my mind about talent that lies in the slow and powerful; loud, strong, and powerful works just as well. The lead guitarist took off running with the melody, and the bassist and drummer clearly loved being able to pick up the pace, dancing and grinning their way through the last sounds of the night.

           

Rock on, Wilmo!

See www.gablemusicventures.com.

See www.facebook.com/TheWayHomeMusic.

See www.facebook.com/crossingoceansband.

Why You Shouldn't Miss the Shady Grove Music Fest (Next Year)

The Shady Grove Music Fest in Arden has come and gone rather quietly, as it tends to do, despite being one of the top music festivals in Delaware. (Of course, with Firefly this year, it's hard to compete -- but what is Firefly doing for the local music scene?) The event is surprisingly low-key -- though it does kick up a bit as the day progresses into evening -- and, even more surprisingly, not very crowded. It seems a lot of folks are missing out. So, looking forward to next year's festival, here's why you shouldn't miss Shady Grove:
 

• It's easily one of the best ways to sample the Wilmington/Newark and Tri-State music scene.  

• When else can you see most of these bands during the day with your family? If you rarely get out to bars and clubs for shows, you'd be crazy to miss it. Even if you do see live music frequently, it's a nice change of pace to see band like The Bullets, The Keefs, and Deadbeatz, Inc. outdoors in the afternoon or early evening. And if you have kids (who get in free if they're under 12), they rarely have the chance to see some of these bands play live.

• The variety: the 2012 Shady Grove festival featured rock, indie pop, punk, rockabilly, jazz and funk. There's even live visual art, as a festival billboard is painted on site during the event -- in recent years, it has been done by Wilmington graffiti artist 3EYES.

• It really is shady! The canopy of trees in the grove behind Arden Gild Hall cools off a sunny June day, and even make light rain tolerable.

• It benefits the Arden Gild Hall, ensuring that the arts in Delaware continues to flourish.

Missed 2012's Shady Grove Fest? You can still check out the bands:


Deadbeatz Inc. www.reverbnation.com/deadbeatzinc
Still Moon Servants www.reverbnation.com/stillmoonservants
Spontaneous Underground www.reverbnation.com/spontaneousunderground
The Bullets www.reverbnation.com/theoriginalbullets
The Paper Janes www.reverbnation.com/thepaperjanes
The Keefs www.reverbnation.com/thekeefs
AlyCat www.reverbnation.com/alycat
Bullbuckers: www.bullbuckers.com/


Be sure to get all of the news about next year's Shady Grove Festival by liking their Faebook Page: www.facebook.com/WSTWArdenShadyGroveMusicFest