Baltimore style hits Broadway in 'Hairspray'

But it is not the world in which the show's creator, John Waters, lived when he was growing up. It is the world he wishes he had lived in. It is a world in which the fat girl bulk hair wins the handsome hunk and gets elected prom queen. It is a world in which a red-blooded American man can put on a dress if he feels like it, and no one will think the worse of him. It is a world in which Jim Crow is no match for a bunch of kids who like to dance. Sign Up For Traffic Text Alerts In other words, it is not reality. But the wistfulness that underlies Hairspray's frothiness is what makes this show so good.Which is not to downplay the other things the musical has going for it: a knockout young cast, an exceptionally tuneful score, a set and costumes designed by two American masters. And of course, wigs.Hairspray, of course, is based on Waters' 1988 cult film of the same name. But the musical's script, written by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, departs from - and improves upon - the original.The plot is far more focused. The relationship between the tubby teen heroine, Tracy Turnblad, and heartthrob Link Larkin is developed for the first time. Arch villainess Velma von Tussle has a new role as a television producer, and she uses it to thwart poor Tracy (who yearns for a spot on a popular dance show) and advance the fortunes of her whiny daughter, Amber.While the musical and movie share a theme of prejudice, in the stage version, Tracy's girth-enhanced mother, Edna, becomes an advocate for Ample Americans. The musical also eliminates scenes from the hair bulk movie that were based on the real-life race riots in Baltimore's Gwynn Oak Amusement Park; on stage, the riot occurs when the kids try to integrate a television dance show.And perhaps it's just me, but the musical's book by Meehan and O'Donnell seems to have even more hilariously tasteless jokes about flatulence, food and what really goes on inside the girls' locker room than the movie script written by Waters.My only major qualm is the depiction of the spunky little white girl as the savior of the oppressed black people. Why does it have to be Tracy who spearheads the protests outside The Corny Collins Show? Couldn't the idea of picketing have occurred to her black friends? The producers seem aware of this pitfall - they go out of their way to stress that the black kids taught Tracy how to dance - but don't step around it entirely.Hairspray the movie had authentic period tunes. But Hairspray the musical has chinese remi 17 original songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman that tickle your ears and melt in your mouth.Not every lyric follows the strict rules of logic; for instance, it simply isn't true that 'time cannot take what comes free.' But overall, they have a refreshing honesty and charm, as when Tracy sings of her hometown:Good morning, Baltimore!There's the flasher who lives next doorAnd the drunk on his barroom stool.They wish me luck on my way to school.Based on classic '60s rock, the score reflects changing social mores and grows in complexity as its characters mature, and as the black and white cultures start to mingle. So, early on, we get a pop-infused girl trio singing the catchy "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now," and late in the second act we have the lovely, bluesy, "I Know Where I've Been."In fact, that song is the emotional heart of the show.Reportedly, the producers considered cutting it because they worried that a serious number about racism would be out of place in the light-as-aerosol world of Hairspray. They made the right decision not to, especially because Mary Bond Davis delivers it as a shiver-inducing triumphal anthem. The song is the grain of sand at the center of the pearl.