WHAT: “Hairspray”

WHEN: through Saturday, Aug. 25

WHERE: Pickard Theatre on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick

TICKETS: Go online to www.msmt.org, or call 725-8769

‘Hairspray’ tips the scales as musical must-see

BRUNSWICK – Theater doesn’t get much better than the lighthearted fun of “Hairspray,” closing out the 49th season of the Maine State Music Theatre. Here is a show that’s pure fun to its core with a talented cast that will catch your attention.

While folks might revel in the newly released movie of the same name, “Hairspray” started life as a 1988 John Waters film starring Ricki Lake that eventually won eight Tony Awards as a stage production on Broadway.

The show is set in 1962 in Baltimore, revolving around teenager Tracy Turnblad (Alison Faircloth), a large girl with big dreams and even bigger hair who has an abundant joy about life. Tracy will do whatever it takes to claim a spot on the Corny Collins (Curt Dale Clark) Show, a popular television dance show, to win the heart of Link Larkin (Colin Campbell McAdoo), the show’s resident dreamboat – and to turn the town upside down in her efforts to racially integrate television.

Like any good musical, there is a lovable villain in the Corny Collins Show producer, Velma Von Tussle (Susan Cella), who uses her position to promote her ditzy daughter, Amber (Lindsay Devino), while attempting to keep the show segregated with the white kids at center stage and only one day a month – Negro Day – for the black youngsters wanting to dance on TV.

With superhero energy, Tracy meets Seaweed (Eric B. Anthony), a black student who teaches her some slick dance moves that win her a spot on Corny’s show. With guidance from Seaweed’s mother, Motormouth Maybelle (Jacqueline B. Arnold), Tracy’s mother, Edna (played by MSMT Executive Director Steven Charles Peterson) and her father, Wilbur (Ed Romanoff), Tracy reaches her dream of stardom. She also falls in love with her leading man and changes the course of television forever. (Don’t you wish that things in real life could turn out like a Broadway musical?)

Director/choreographer Donna Drake knows how to put together a smash hit musical with high-powered energy from start to finish – with many show-stopping moments along the way. There are dazzling vocals in “Good Morning Baltimore” and “Welcome to the ’60s,” a fun little number in “I Can Hear the Bells” and powerful sentiment in “Timeless to Me.”

Faircloth owns this show as the pleasantly plump girl who doesn’t let a few extra pounds keep her from her dreams. Her vocals are strong, her dancing spirited and she captures the essence of this hero for whom everyone wants to root.

Sharing the spotlight are Romanoff and Peterson as father and mother to Tracy. Romanoff is every bit the character actor as he creates this nutty, but warm-hearted, father. Peterson, carrying on the tradition of Tracy’s mother being played by a male actor, is outrageously funny showing his maternal instincts, looking great in women’s fashion and somehow being able to maneuver high heels with ease. The duo shares the funniest number of the evening, “Timeless to Me,” as Wilbur confesses his everlasting love for his wife.

While there is a slew of supporting stand-outs in the show, I was most impressed with Alex Ellis as Tracy’s friend and clueless kid turned to hot babe, Penny Pingleton. Here’s a young actress who took a small role and made it memorable. Her comic timing was impeccable, her energy fierce and her character a joy to behold. Connie Shafer is a hoot as Penny’s mother and various other characters. Cella, with a string of Broadway credits, is a seasoned veteran on stage.

This is sure to be a sell-out hit. Get your tickets while you can.

Dan Marois has written theater reviews for the Sun Journal for more than 10 years.