Page 86 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2023 - Online Magazine
P. 86
Backcombing
Hairspray
by Original Director Jack O’Brien
ow is it that the creation
of certain theatrical events
Hseems as unfeasible as “Good Morning Baltimore” - Niki Metcalf as “Tracy Turnblad” in Hairspray. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.
mining uranium on Mars, and
others rush by with the blitheness I do know that the chicken came It wasn’t, of course. It was even
of an afternoon at Disneyland? And before the egg; in other words, each better! And that template, that
what distinguishes one event from of us, Jerry Mitchell, Tom Meehan footprint for innocence, sass,
the other? and Mark O’Donnell, and that array and foot-tapping contained in
of gifted designers were all borne this remarkable score suffused
I suppose if we knew the answer, all instantly aloft by the brilliance of every single collaborator, every
moment in the rehearsal hall, and
musicals would be as energized and Mark Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s
filled with joy as HAIRSPRAY is. I breathtaking score. This was an finally permeated that out-of-body
experience we later were able to
know it must have happened. I was instance when one listened to the
there when the balloon went up, but very first musical cut offered for identify as our Seattle try-out.
to define exactly what it was that consideration, and before Tracy had
produced the alchemy of an 8-time finished her first oh…oh…oh… one Oh yes. Alchemy, I believe,
Tony Winning Best Musical that has was irretrievably hooked. If only the involves the perfect blend of secret
been beloved around the world is rest of the score could be anywhere ingredients, like the Coca-Cola
beyond my powers of analysis. near that good! formula, lost somewhere in the
mists of time. In this case, the music,
the lyrics, the book and the world
created by Messrs. Rockwell, Ivey
Long and Posner were fueled by the
secret weapon others would have
to identify as perpetual motion. We
learned to call it Jerry Mitchell, and
the zip, the faster-than-light and
lighter-than-fast stepping he created
gave us the beat you can’t, according
to Tracy and her gang, stop.
So, we don’t stop that beat, and
we don’t stop smiling as we obey
it. And to this day, although I still
“Good Morning Baltimore” - (center) Niki Metcalf as “Tracy Turnblad” and the Company of don’t fully understand how it
Hairspray. Photo: Jeremy Daniel.
happened, I’m awfully glad it did.
86 Lubbock Senior Link
