Get ready to shake, rattle and roll
Tony-winning musical adaptation of the film Hairspray a high-octane spectacle
With music by Marc Shaiman, book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the stage musical Hairspray is adapted from director John Waters' 1988 comedy of the same name. After a soft opening in Seattle in 2022, the show moved to Broadway where it scored a trio of Tony Awards. It also grabbed an Olivier award for best new musical following a 2007 run in London's West End.
Hairspray recounts the story of 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad, a headstrong teen with mile high hair and a dream to dance her way onto WYZT's the Corny Collins Show. Some of her classmates are already cast on the program and are nothing short of high school royalty.
But landing a gig on the popular teen TV show is no easy feat in the competitive rock 'n' roll world of 1962 Baltimore.
Winning the Miss Teenage Hairspray competition on the program can launch showbiz careers and caustic classmates, conniving parents, creepy Collins and bad values of the day put up walls against Tracy and her friends. Before the adventure is over, these teens will take on segregation, society and more to shake, rattle and roll their way to success.
Broadway Across Canada's touring production of Hairspray comes to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver in April. This all-new version reunited the original creative team of director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell. Caroline Eiseman will appear as Tracy Turnblad with Canadian veteran Emmanuelle Zeesman in the ominously titled “female authority figure” Prudy Pingleton as well as a few other cameos.
“I was eight years old when the 2007 musical version of John Waters' film came out and it marked kind of a cultural landmark for me and musicals, and I watched it a lot over the years,” says Eisemen. “I didn't see the original film until I was auditioning for the show, but one of the great things about it is that it works for all ages. Kids love the singing, dancing and spectacle while adults are sure to catch some of the raunchier John Waters jokes that are included.”
Reviewers have noted that the show is a marathon for the cast and particularly for the Turnblad character. Eiseman says she trained hard to be ready to resume the role and be ready to tear it up in numbers such as the Madison and the massive finale You Can't Stop the Beat, which the cast has dubbed “You Can't Stop to Breathe.”
“I joined in the summer of 2022 as a standby, so I knew what I was getting into after that run,” she said. “There was a seven-week break before the new year and I hit the gym hard keeping up my cardio, stamina and such because there is no rest for the wicked. A lot more than I ever anticipated goes into being Tracy, because she is movin' and groovin' the whole time.”
Moving and grooving to Jerry Mitchell's “highly aerobic” choreography is a far cry from the standard musical's variety of a fast number here, a slow dance there. Hairspray is set in the high-octane world of early '60s sock hops, blazing rock 'n' roll and R&B music and not very many ballads. It's very high-energy.
Montreal-born, Ottawa-raised Zeesman has family in Vancouver and is excited to be performing in town again. It's her third season touring with the show.
“I haven't left because I love it, simply put,” said Zeesman. “My role lets me make use of my background in improv and clowning as well as scat singing every night. By the time the confetti cannons are going off at the end, my horrible, racist character has changed her mind and the crowd is on its feet and it's just fantastic.”
Zeesman says that, with its underlying topics of racism, LGBTQ2SI+ characters and community action for change, Hairspray has maintained its relevance through the years. Not only is it incredibly catchy, but lyrics such as “I'll eat some breakfast now and change the world” resonate in the real world. It's a show you can sing to yourself for inspiration.
“My dream as a child was to perform in all Canadian provinces as well as the territories and never leave,” she said. “I spent a lot of years acting in Ottawa and waited until my daughter finished high school before my husband and I moved to the U.S. Now he is the merchandising manager on the show, so we get to tour together, which is pretty perfect.”
Eiseman will tour as Tracy until this July and says it takes a special personality to live out of a suitcase for years at a time. She admits to loving her things and her clothes closet, but has learned to make her hotel room feel like home wherever she checks-in. Touring Hairspray is “chaotic” but she loves the show.
“Only 20 minutes into it, Tracy has her swan song intro with I Can Hear the Bells and I cherish getting to sing it every night,” she said. “I also have the best seat in the house to watch my peers tell their stories when I'm onstage during the numbers where I don't sing. Plus, we have a fantastic seven-piece live band of the most talented human beings working with us as well.”
This enables a bit of improvisation to make its way into performances when it suits the players, with Eiseman noting that the sax player was tossing in snippets of Christmas carols during solos around the holidays. It all contributes to the fun vibe.
As for what she plans to do when Tracy lets down her hair at the end of the run, Eiseman says she's open to anything.
“I love this art form and hope to do it as long as I can,” she said. “I didn't even have the chance to move to New York before the tour started, so that will be next and then I'd like to work on Broadway, tour again and — of course — originate a role.”
Among favourite films she would love to see adapted and get to perform in would be the Princess Diaries from 2001.