Girls Scouts attend HAIRSPRAY

 

Junior troop 71198 from St Raphael School in Medford recently went to see the Wheelock Family Theatre production of " Hairspray" that was advertised in the GS Catalog. This was one of the best shows we have ever seen! It rivaled Broadway! Kudos to GSEM for advertising and letting troops know about this amazing production. This show portrayed many of the values we teach in Girl Scouts. Tolerance, Acceptance, Being true to yourself....  It was so awesome to see how well our 9-yr olds related to this story line.

And the cast and crew were so terrific after the show, signing autographs, answering questions and we even got a back stage tour!

Thank you GSEM for letting our troop know about this wonderful show! An experience our troop will not forget!

Amy-Jayne McCabe and Dee Fagan- Co-leaders St Raphael School, Troop 71198 Medford, MA.

Audience Comments HAIRSPRAY!

In the 10 years that I have now been in Boston and attending the WFT shows each year, this production of Hairspray is the best ever! I have loved all of your shows over the years, but this production just blew me away. The beautiful harmonies (and talented belting solos) were spot on; the dancing was superb and fit the period so well (as did the costumes); and the frozen tableaux images and dancing in the audience really captivated the crowd and drew us in.

My students LOVED it! They can't wait to write their formal "professional" critiques in tomorrow's classes with me (their academic assignment after going on the trip). And just kept talking about the show right thru lunch and back at school.

AND several want to come BACK to bring their families! (One chaperone even remarked that even though he was there with his daughters today with us, he wants to get tickets to see it again on the weekend!) And when our 8th graders heard we went to see the show (and didn't take them -- they went last year when they were 7th graders to see Oliver, as is the tradition to take our 7th graders to a WFT show each year)... several said, "fine! We're going ourselves this weekend on own, since you didn't take us." Awesome! There was such a buzz from our 7th graders that other grade levels want to go, too!

It was heartwarming to overhear some of our students saying that it was great to see a show that was not "all white." Our school population is roughly 70% African & Caribbean American and they really appreciated a show that told a story that many could connect to and to their families. It has made for great discussions already. Thank you for that.

 -Meegan Turet

Academy of the Pacific Rim

Hyde Park, MA

HAIRSPRAY, after our first student matinee... a comment from the audience...

Wow! Wheelock Family Theatre’s performance of Hairspray is wonderful! I felt so proud of Wheelock and what it offers to the community in quality live theater.  Today I attended a school performance with a full auditorium of middle and high school students from Boston area schools who seemed to love the show as much as I did.  What a great message Hairspray offers on inclusion amidst great music, dancing, and amazing vocals. The whole auditorium seemed to be in synch with rapt attention, laughs, hoots and affirmations!  Great work Wheelock Family Theatre!

Stephanie Cox Suarez

Associate Professor, Special Education

Actor Profile: Robert Saoud

Robert is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has appeared at Wheelock Family Theatre in A Little Princess, Cinderella, Fiddler on the Roof, Charlotte’s Web, Tuck Everlasting, Pippi, Hello Dolly, Kiss Me Kate, The Tempest, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom Toll Booth and Anne Of Green Gables.

"This is my 16th production with Wheelock Family Theatre. My first show was A Little Princess in 1994, so this season marks my 20th anniversary. WFT has been a wonderful place to grow and train. The theatre gave me my Equity card to play a pig in 1996. I have done Shakespeare, musicals, comedy and drama. I have been cast as the bad guy, the good guy, the funny guy, the serious guy, the witch, and even the fat man/thin man! When I was offered the role of Edna I was a little terrified. It’s become an iconic character in the world of musical theatre. When I was told they wanted to try a different take on Edna, I was intrigued. The rehearsal process has been challenging, but I think it’s difficult to play Edna and not fall in love with her.

I grew up in Detroit, and although I was very young at the time, I remember the race riots of 1968. I did not fully understand the ramifications of what was happening, but I still remember seeing the National Guard trucks rolling into the city. Hairspray deals with race on a much lighter level, but WFT has never shied away from issues that may make people uncomfortable or require them to think. One of my favorite productions I’ve seen anywhere was Wheelock’s staging of Lord of the Flies (and I wasn’t even in it)! Over the years I have made numerous ongoing friendships here. I cannot thank WFT enough for all it has given me."

Robert is a proud member of Actors Equity and Stage Source.

BOSTON GLOBE "ensemble turns Hairspray into a dance party"

An irresistible score combined with an outstanding cast make the Wheelock Family Theatre’s production of “Hairspray” a highlight of the theater season.

Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman’s musical adaptation of John Waters’s 1988 movie celebrates individuality in all its glorious forms. Shaiman’s rock score references just the right musical themes from the 1950s and ’60s while making fresh new songs that serve the musical theater storytelling format. Wittman’s lyrics are hilarious, working period-specific pop culture references into rhymes that also move the story along and develop this quirky crowd of characters.

And what a crowd they are. Director Susan Kosoff and musical director Matthew Stern have cast the show with a healthy mix of familiar faces and new talent to populate Baltimore circa 1962, and every performer seems to be inspiring the others to up their game. No fewer than three dozen performers sing, dance, and act up a storm on the Janie E. Howland’s brightly colored ’60s-style variety show set, and thanks to Kosoff’s direction and Laurel Conrad’s sleek choreography, these dancers make it look easy. Stern conducts a tight, six-piece band through the high-energy score with joyful ease.

Jenna Lea Scott (who was so good in last year’s Lyric Stage production of “Avenue Q”) delivers a Tracy Turnblad with the perfect combination of effervescence and sincerity without being cloying. Her Tracy, a big girl with even bigger hair, is as believable when she swoons over heartthrob Link Larkin as she is when she resolves to be judged for her dancing talent, not her plus size, on “The Corny Collins Show.” The earnest, unaffected way Scott turns Tracy’s demotion to special ed into an opportunity to make new friends, and learn some slick new dance moves, wins the audience’s hearts, to say nothing of her performance of “Good Morning, Baltimore” and “I Can Hear the Bells.”

Scott’s Tracy also has a warm relationship with her parents Edna (Robert Saoud) and Wilbur (Peter A. Carey), as well as her best friend Penny Pingleton (an outstanding Jennifer Beth Glick), which gives “Mama I’m a Big Girl Now” and “Welcome to the ’60s” a lot of heart — to say nothing of the soulful sound from the trio of Dynamites (Maritza Bostic, Ciera-Dawn Washington, and Kerri Wilson-Ellenberger).

Boston Conservatory student Michael Notardonato makes Link Larkin the perfect teen idol (with a killer falsetto), whose “It Takes Two” is the first of several show-stoppers. Despite his pop icon aspirations, his Link is grounded enough to fall for the no-nonsense Tracy, despite his role as arm-candy for Amber Von Tussle (Jane Bernhard), daughter of “The Corny Collins Show” producer Velma Von Tussle (Aimee Doherty).

Doherty has never sounded better (and that’s saying something), but she also makes the scheming Velma Von Tussle a charming villainess, and her castanet-like choreography for her “Miss Baltimore Crabs” nearly brings down the house.

There is not one weak link in this ensemble, so it seems almost unfair to single out performers, but Gamalia Pharms, a Wheelock regular, is inspired as Motormouth Maybelle, Jon Allen is a seductively loose-limbed Seaweed, Tyla Collier grabs our attention with her Little Inez, Cheryl McMahon is pitch perfect in multiple roles, and Mark Linehan is an appropriately slick Corny Collins.

“Hairspray” takes on some big issues, but does it with so much humor and optimism it will send you out of the theater singing and dancing for joy.

Review by Terry Byrne.
Photo by Gary Ng.
Jenna Lea Scott, Jon Allen.

Actor Profile: Jenna Lea Scott

Jenna Lea Scott is performing as Tracy Turnblad in the WFT production of  HAIRSPRAY

Jenna is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has appeared at Wheelock Family Theatre in Peter Pan, Seussical, Honk, Annie, Phantom Tollbooth and Anne Of Green Gables.

"Auditioning is a hard but necessary part of being a working actor. I have found that the casting process can be particularly trying as an Asian American actress. It’s challenging to prove to casting directors that you aren't just your race. A play that requires an Asian actor may offer me a foot in the door, but I am often asked to portray a stereotype. Landing a role as a member of a family that is not Asian is even more difficult. WFT has been the only venue where I’ve been afforded opportunities to play a range of roles, based on my abilities not my race. Perhaps it’s because some people feel that family members need to resemble one another. Interestingly, this is not the case in my own family where my sister and I were adopted from South Korea by Caucasian parents. My older brother is adopted, too, though he's originally from the U.S. As a child on vacation with my family I can remember being asked if I was a foreign exchange student. Happily, the definition of family is ever-widening and I am encountering more and more acceptance that a family can be comprised of people who vary in a multitude of ways.

My reaction to being cast as Tracy Turnblad at WFT was like one of Tracy's lines in the show...'Ohmigod, it's a dream of a lifetime. I have to [play this part]!' I grew up loving '50s and '60s music, fashion and styles and saw the original film version of Hairspray with Ricky Lake as a kid. It really spoke to me as a girl who was just a little different trying to change the world around her while staying true to herself. I have that same feeling every time I’m cast in a role that's not traditionally Asian. As with Tracy’s desire to be on the Corny Collin's Show, I want to demonstrate to the world that art has the capacity to transform lives. I believe that the theatre world is changing with more new writers creating diverse roles and theatres like WFT championing non-traditional, or 'colorful' casting. Among my reasons for pursuing an acting career was a desire to see myself represented on the stage and inspiring others to do what they love. I’m glad I can pursue these goals at WFT."

Actor Profile: Gamalia Pharms

Gamalia Pharms will be playing Motormouth Maybelle in HAIRSPRAY.



Gamalia is a member of Actors' Equity Association and has appeared at Wheelock Family Theatre in The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, Cinderella, A Little Princess, Kiss Me Kate, The Good Times Are Killing Me, Ole' Sis Goose, The Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast, The Beanstalk, The Giant and Jack, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Pippi, Honk, Seussical, Hello Dolly, Oliver, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Trumpet of the Swan, Anne of Green Gables, Stuart Little, Aladdin, My Fair Lady, Once Upon a Mattress and Phantom Tollbooth.

"When I saw John Waters’ film Hairspray in the 80’s, it really resonated with me. As a child growing up in the Mission Hill (Roxbury) area of Boston in the 1960s, I have memories of singing Stop in the Name of Love with my childhood friends as we walked to school. My family had one black-and-white television, and when an African-American group or singer appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday night, it was monumental! My older sister, would teach me the latest dances she learned from the parties she would go to on the weekends! I could do the shimmy, the pony, the skate, the swim, the monkey and the twist! I idolized my older teenage sister and would borrow her records (when she would let me), and enjoyed watching her hair style change from a ‘swinging sixties’ bouffant to the militant Black Panthers afro! I also remember seeing my parents openly weep with the assassinations of JFK, MLK and Malcolm X. The strong feeling of the loss of hope was palpable - memories of the riots, the horror of hearing about lynchings in the south, and watching my father deal with discrimination at his work place. Growing up in the inner city I also experienced ‘white flight’ when many of my white friends’ families moved or took their children out of public school.

"The world vision Martin Luther King envisioned in the 1960s, is one I feel Wheelock Family Theater embraces, with its mission of inclusion and diverse casting policies. I feel lucky to have found WFT, and have enjoyed being a member of many casts that reflect the diversity of Boston in all aspects - race, gender and individuals with disabilities.

"I am thrilled to be a member of this amazing WFT production!"