Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Hairspray rhymes with Gay

... I'm just sayin'



I'm also sayin; that it was fun, f-u-n: fun! and different from both movie versions, which I am thankful, because, less face it if it was the same I'd be a little pissed to think I coulda just popped the DVD into the player and curled up on dah sofa with my main men...

Also, too, I am glad that there were at my count two songs not in the re-make of the movie, but sad to say my FAV song, "Hairspray" (the opening song) from the Waters original production was still not to be seen or heard... *le sigh*.

The cast was great, but I gotta say a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle disappointing in that the lead (Tracy) couldn't really dance that well... and considering the plot, it's a rather large omission 9pun intended)...

The singer that played Motormouth Maybelle had some lungs! (both figurative and literal) that really brought down the house... twice!

I think the BEST moment of the night though, was when Edna Turnblad fell out of character after a slightly ribald line near the end of "You're Timeless to Me" when her husband says 'Shabat Shalom' and she says 'I didn't know you were Jewish' then he replies, 'You can't always tell...' and then he grabs and hugs her from behind and she says 'Oh, you can always tell'... to which the audience lost it, prompting her to lose it and requiring the orchestra to hold the note for a good 45 seconds while Miss Edna composed herself. Some might not like when an actor falls out of character like that, but I have to say that personally I love it. The Audience totally ate it up too hooting and applauding the gaff. It shows me that they are just as fallible as the rest of us and it actually brings me deeper in, oddly enough; it's an opening that you share directly and immediately with that cast member, if not more.

Was it better than the movie[s]? I'd say not; but I'd also say that there is something I love about both of them. And really when you contrast and compare they are two different movies with different subplots and all but completely different music and soundtracks ('The Madison' being the only exception); and so too was this version of the musical, with two songs that did not appear in the re-make, at least what went on screen..., and of course for ease of staging some plot lines altered and a couple subplots completely removed. Still it gave it a feeling of something you were experiencing for the first time.

Overall I still have to go with Waters' 1988 original as my fav fav fav, because it's simply darker, camper and lets face it the original.

It was a fantastic evening's entertainment and we owe it all to N@ and her Goiter (heh) Feel better soon Miss Lauzon... Hugs and love from two fagellahs in the gaybourhood.

4 comments:

Bruno Laliberté said...

originals are always best because they are...originals!!!
but a live performance, & when an actor falls out of character, be it for a second... priceless!!
for everything else, there's mastercard!!
;)~
i've witness such moments & i cherish them. it's a connection between the audience & the actor.
you can't get better than this.
an exemple dear to me: not an actress, but an opera singer, leontyne price, on her farewell tour. i'm in the second row, 'cause i couldn't bear to be front row in front of her eminence, smack center. she's delivering one of her famous songs, the audience goes nuts, she just stares at the darkness of the room 'cause of the spotlights... (she's known as "the sphinx" after all...) & after much applause, you could feel she was FINALLY looking at us!!! & i was SO close... shivers!! my father & a friend of mine cried (me too!!) to be acknowledge, if only for a second, is sweet.
:)~

Sean Newbury said...

Yea you totally get it like I do. Those moments bring me in closer! not take me farther away.

Great story about LEOntyne ;-)

Anonymous said...

i completely love this show. soooooo much better than the movie remake!

Sean Newbury said...

It was fun I say.

F - U - N!

I wonder what Musical Comedy we'll see next year?! hmmmmmmm