Hairspray: A Dance Analysis

Imagine living in the 1960’s fighting for the chance to be able on a hit dance show series. Now, imagine fighting for equal opportunities between the blacks and whites, in an area where segration between the two races is held up as an important aspect of the community. This is exactly what happened in the hit musical, Hairspray. I was able to attend this amazing musical at Washington Lee High School on April 25, 2015. Directed by Keith Cassidy, outstanding performers showed off their collaboration and effort, transporting the audience to Baltimore in 1962. Through acts of violence, progression in the fight towards equality, and some ridiculous hair, Hairspray was able to speak to audiences both of the 1960’s and of the decades beyond that.
As they stage was quite large, the structures had a good proprtaration to the stage itself. The structures were also decorated according to the 1960s, with bright colors and having signs that say “whites only”. The structures that correspond with the scene were rolled out, making it very easy to identify where the characters were. In addition, there was a white backdrop, and a different colors were projected, according to the mood of that scene. For example, when the blacks were jailed for protesting, the color red was shown to demonstrate both their anger for being jailed as well as to illistrature their passion for the particular cause, which was equal rights. In addition, when Seaweed intrudes Penny’s house in order to free penny from her “bed arrest” the color blue is projected to show his loyalty to her, despite all the consequences that may come from it. The combination of a white backdrop with movable structures made the portrayal of emotions very effective thought the show. Although the technical aspects of the production were outstanding, I felt that the costumes and makeup lacked creativity. Most of the characters in the show had identical costumes to those in the movie hairspray. I was very frustrated by this, as many highschoolers like to express themselves in their own ways, and as a result, make uo a very diverse population. Since the show was produced in a high school atmosphere, I expected the costumes to express to be an original take on the actor’s perspective. However, the costumes did do a very nice job portraying the time period. As Hairspray is a musical, I found the music aspect of the performance outstanding. Both the orchestras and character’s voices combined simously. I was blown away by the clarity of the actor’s votes, through their