Your scribe was not permitted to see this amazing show for weeks and months. It had opened while I was still in Europe, before what used to be the Opening of the Broadway Season. By the time I returned, it was already so smothered with raves n' honors that - or so I was repeatedly told - the producers didn't need a website rave. Fortunately, I am (as non-recording Secretary of the Outer Critics Circle) an Awards Nominator and a Voter. Not to overlook also being a Voter for the Drama Desk Awards. So, shortly before the nominations, I suddenly got aisle-seats for this fabulous musical. Obese Americans will soon come to love the show's dynamic, charming heroine, the chubby-teen Tracy Turnblad. Marissa Jaret Winokur deserves every one of the award-nominations she's recently received! And the inimitable Harvey Fierstein - as her Rose-like frustrated mother - should gladden the hearts not only of the overweight, but also of cross-dressers everywhere! Sursum Corda, with Fries!
The attractive cast, the songs, the choreography (Jerry Mitchell), the sets (David Rockwell), & the costumes (William Ivey Long) are all outstanding. The mountain of award nominations for the show attest to that! Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan have ably adapted John Waters' outrageous film. And Jack O'Brien has brought his usual savvy to the staging, trying this out in Seattle, where the prevailing winds make "hairspray" something more than a musical joke.
