Hairspray

Hairspray
Inspire Creative
PACE Center
Parker, CO 
July 14-30, 2017

In the Denver theater community, some repetition is inevitable. The scheduling decisions made last spring led to Inspire Creative’s production of Hairspray to open just weeks after the Town Hall Arts Center’s fantastic version closed. 

The show contained Inspire’s usual exuberance. However, some of the casting choices were puzzling. While the talent was there, I found myself wondering why Tracy and Motormouth Maybelle were so thin when the script clearly called for them to have a different body type. Link, on the other hand, seemed to lack the charisma and sex appeal needed for the character.

Edna, on the other hand, was an absolute delight. The actor’s use of his lower register at opportune moments added more humor to the show.
 

The set for the show set the mood for the show. It screamed 1960’s and lent itself well to each location. The costumes were fun, but the wigs for Tracy and Amber were very poor.  In Tracy’s case it effected the characterization since her hairstyle was an important part of her storyline.

This Hairspray is not a bad production. Mostly it has the misfortunate of following a more inspired version.