'Hairspray' holds over audience

Towering beehives, Afro puffs and teased hair flips were a few of the '60s era hair-do emblems glistening in the musical "Hairspray."

The production opened at Shea's Performing Arts Center Thursday and will run through Sunday.

"Hairspray" is about a young girl trying to change racial segregation in her community. Although the hairstyles serve as a landmark in the beginning of the show, the story goes beyond style and appearance.

Keala Settle plays the role of Tracy, a teenage girl from Baltimore, Md. whose dream is to become a hit TV-star on the 1960's soul-train series, "The Corny Collins Show."

Of course, a story wouldn't be a story without conflict. Tracy fails to make the "Corny Collins Show" the first time around. Disappointed, she returns to school and gets involved with a new set of African-American friends. They teach Tracy a few new dance moves that help launch her career.

The musical inserts tasteful racial jokes. Most of the crowd was laughing throughout as the writing eased some of the controversial issues being presented.

"Ain't no black and white in here, detention is a rainbow experience," one of the actors exclaims in the show.

The bright colors made the costumes appealing, especially for anyone who grew up in the '60s era.

The musical score, directed and conducted by Jim Vukovich, was exceptional. Every instrument was crisp and could be picked out individually by the audience. At the beginning of the second act, the conductor encouraged the crowd to clap and dance.

Although there was nothing notable about the choreography besides the fact that it was based on styles of the decade, the superb cast and song selection compensated for it.

Settle, originally from Hawaii, has many musical production credits that include "Gypsy" and "The Wiz." Her performance is exceptionally precise in "Hairspray," with an incredible singing voice that makes a lasting impression.

The star of the show, J.P. Dougherty, takes a cross-dressing role as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother. He is an extraordinary actor whose previous Broadway performance acknowledgments include "The Three Musketeers" and "Les Miserables."

By the end of the night Dougherty proved to be an audience favorite.

The cast wasn't afraid to have fun and ad-lib a bit either. In one particular scene, the actors actually laughed at their own humorous remarks. Their playful personas, despite the occasional slip, were so much more enjoyable to watch than a production in which performers are robot-like.

Certainly the actors were doing something right, because the audience gave them a standing ovation.