I've been lazy. I've been busy lurking on other people's blogs. I've been away with the fairies and a touch ill. Whatever you call it, I've not touched this blog in over a week and I thought I would just touch base and leave a quick note that Jay and I traveled up to the West End on Tuesday for a bit of a birthday show. We saw 'Hairspray' a la stage musical incarnation. I think Jon Waters would have been mildly pleased that his movie has been turned into a show that seems to rank with the 1990's version of 'Rent' and the current touring phenomenon, 'Mamma Mia', in terms of crowd pleasers and interactivity. I doubt, however, it would have interested Waters. The candy-coated stage adaptation of the movie (which starred the late-great, faeces-scoffing Divine) only had a few bright moments - the duet between Edna and Wilbur Turnblatt (Michael Ball and Mel Smith) and the closing number of the first act were top notch. All the rest was predictable and silly. Perhaps you will think that musical theatre is supposed to be light and easy on the ear, but I think that the storyline, as it was written for the stage, was actually too complicated. Trying to address the issues of integration, fat-phobia, juvenile delinquency, classism and dead-end extistences by reducing it to a few 'fat misguided girl makes good and leads the march for change on a segregated show' numbers, meant it felt old and tired quite quickly. I don't blame the stage actors - renewed general interest in Waters' work may mean that there is room for quirky and odd in the big money business of theatre and movie remakes.
Overall, I have to give the production two and a half stars. I hope that doesn't deter anyone from seeing it, in principle. It's an honourable attempt at recreating the wackiness that is Jon Waters, it just failed to hit its mark consistently and fluently. It was (as my writing has often been described) awkward. Awkward is okay if you don't charge money to see a production, like I did with my early childhood, neighbourhood shows. It's really not okay if you have to pay £60 for two hours of it...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Do I have to give up my membership card as a lesbyterian if I confess I've yet to see Hairspray?
I've read The Well of Loneliness. Surely that at least makes up for this oversight, right?
Hope your holidays are filled with joy and happiness, Aitch!
:)
I'm sorry I can't and won't see a version of Hair Spray without Divine and Ricki Lake....it just....doesn't seem right. Call me a purist.
Hey Mabes,
Ix-nay on ever giving up your membership ard-cay. You may have to hand in the free toaster, however. 'Well' was set where Jay and I used to visit MIL, near Malvern. Ah, memories.
Hey SML,
Thanks for the holiday greetings. I hope you had a lovely one, too. I hope your year is filled with joy and happiness, my dear.
Hey Beat Dad,
Welcome. I'm glad to hear you're a person of principle. I probably wouldn't have gone of my own accord but the tix were a very thoughtful b-day gift from my SO. I happen to be a purist of many things myself, however, I did have to change my stance when BBC Radio One came out with a compilation of current pop/rock bands doing cover versions of brilliant songs. I think, if done right, remakes can be good - not better, just different and good. That said, 'Hairspray' was not as good a remake as I had hoped for.
Post a Comment