Walking down the street, I was approached by a friend giving me a peculiar look and asking whether I was all right. This was not strange, considering that I was skipping down the street and humming a song under my breath. Questions exploded from her mouth in her eagerness to find out, what had me so jubilant at the ungodly hour of six am? One word…Hairspray.The title, Hairspray, is a misleading one since the play, though incorporating hairspray in an interesting way, has a deeper meaning that goes beyond this hair product. It’s about love, about one’s image and, most of all, about being true to oneself.

Hairspray is the fictional story of Tracy Turnblad (played by Shannon Durig), who sweeps 1962 Baltimore away with her confidence, determination and love of dancing. To put it bluntly, Tracy is the epitome of the phrase “short and stout.” Pursuing her dream of dancing on a hip teen show, she auditions, not letting anyone’s disbelief and rude remarks deter her from trying. Unfortunately, corruption rules the stage and the producer refuses to even let her try out. And so begins the drama.The play is filled with an array of characters, each superb in their own way. One of the more memorable characters is the mother of Tracy, Mrs. Edna Turnblad, expertly played in drag by Blake Hammond. Hammond wows the audience with his convincing portrayal of this mother who had given up long ago on the American Dream. Providing much of the humor, Edna is indescribable. Hairspray is filled with not only inspirational themes, but  also exciting songs and dancing. Fast beats and classic “show tune” melodies make sure that there isn’t a still foot in the house. The dancing is true to the 1960s and beautifully choreographed. The singing, dancing and simple but effective backgrounds blend to produce a breathtaking journey for the senses. I also really appreciated the subtle humor within the songs—allowing the more serious themes, such as racism,  not to be devalued by the comic relief.

What I loved most about the show is that despite its predictability, I was drawn into the storyline and began to relate to the characters—at the end of the show, I found myself clapping less enthusiastically forthe antagonists in the story…I had trouble  dissociating the performers from the characters! At the end of the day, after all the glamour and glitz, one has to wonder, where does the actual hairspray come in? For the answer to that, you’ll just have to see the show.

Hairspray $25 rush tickets distributed by lottery two and a half hours before show time. Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52 St. www.hairsprayonbroadway.com

Bridge & Tunnel

Sara Jones is the writer/performer of Bridge & Tunnel, a successful, critically-acclaimed solo performance. After multiple extensions Off Broadway in 2004, this show is now sticking around Broadway well into this coming summer. Bridge & Tunnel takes place in a Queens coffee shop which is playing host to an immigrant poetry slam. Jones herself portrays the Pakastani M.C., along with poets of many nationalities. Though each character’s poetry skills may not be perfect, they all have a touching, funny story, and a message they want you to hear. And as a performer, Jones is mezmerizing. In 2004, the production was controversial, yet patriotic, and possibly the most powerful theatrical response to 9/11. As we continue to be at war in Iraq, and grapple with things like the PATRIOT ACT, there is no doubt that Bridge & Tunnel’s messages still ring true.

Bridge & Tunnel $25 tickets available day of performance, through July 9. • Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 W. 44 St. www.sarahjonesonline.com

TDF Play by Play Volume 10, Number 3 March-May 2006

Play by Play is a quarterly theatre newsletter published by Theatre Development Fund (TDF)

Amanda Cooper, Editor
Branden Huldeen, Assistant Editor
Blue Sky Design, Inc., Layout and Design

Victoria Bailey, Executive Director
Veronica Claypool, Managing Director
Marianna Houston, Director of Education
Doug Smith, Director of Web Services
John DiResta, Education Associate
Branden Huldeen, Education Assistant

If you have any questions or would like to request dditional copies of this issue, please contact Play by Play at: Play by Play, TDF, 1501 Broadway, 21st Fl., NY, NY 10036, (212) 221-0885, ext.252 playbyplay@tdf.org www.playbyplayonline.org

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of professional theatre, music and dance productions of merit. TDF makes the performing arts affordable through TKTS, the half-price ticket booths, and many other programs. You can join TDF’s mailing list for a $25 annual fee to receive discount ticket offerings online and through the mail. To join, visit www.tdf.org/application or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: TDF Membership, 1501 Broadway, 21st Fl., NYC 10036.

Play by Play is made possible in part by the generous support of Xerox Corporation with additional funding by City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, The Walt Disney Company, Heckscher Foundation for Children, New York State Council on the Arts, Sarita Kenedy East Foundation and Washington Mutual.

Two Takes on a New Production

Reviews of the new play, Indoor/Outdoor

By JEANE TAYLOR, 12th grade, ADLAI E. STEVENSON HIGH SCHOOL

Indoor/Outdoor is an intriguing play. The main character is Samantha, who explains to the audience her life experiences… as a cat. This play is for all cat lovers, but even if you aren’t, I believe you’ll enjoy it. Most interesting is how Emily Cass McDonnell plays a very precise Samantha dressed in human clothes, without a cat costume—yet, you still believe she’s a cat.

Overall, the four actors do splendid jobs of making the audience believe in their characters. Shuman (a very good Brian Hutchison) is Samantha’s owner, a sensitive man who works at home. Matilda is the love-searching, crazy veterin-arian secretary, played by the excellent Keira Naughton, who also plays the sister and mom of Samantha. Last, but far from least, is the extraordinary Mario Campanaro as Oscar, the tough and adventurous alley cat (as well as several other exciting characters in the play).

Overall, the four actors do splendid jobs
of making the audience believe in their characters.

Though the scenery is bright, it’s the actors and the music that really bring life and color to the play. Throughout the show, I came to realize that not only do humans love and hate, become frustrated, depressed and confused; animals do, too! Indoor/ Outdoor gives you a view of a cat’s life. It is fun and interesting, and it had me always excited to see what would happen next.    

                             

By Sean Collins, 10th Grade, The School for Human Rights

People have kept cats as pets, exterminators, friends—and even as gods! But I have yet to see a cat desire the same type of friendship in return or  discuss events and emotions with their owner. But in the new play, Indoor/ Outdoor, Samantha happens to be that breed of cat. She is emotionally confused after being separated from her mother and is seeking to find happiness.

"...a wonderful comedic story including large
amounts of fast, witty dialogue and monologues"

Samantha, narrating this tale, is adopted by a man named Schuman who happens to be in a worse emotional state than she is. Schuman lives alone in a house in the middle of a forest (all with a cat-appropriate scratching post-like look). The two soon meet Matilda, a desk clerk at a veterinarian’s office, who can miraculously speak with cats. In fact, communication is a main topic and a problem the characters often face within this performance, but it is not the overall point. Samantha, after a long and painfully difficult therapy session with Schuman and Matilda, must choose between outside life and inside life, only find out that things might have been fine and dandy the way they were.

Indoor/Outdoor, though there are only four performers, and none of the cat characters are costumed like cats, is a wonderful comedic story including large amounts of fast, witty dialogue and monologues involving many cultural references to 80’s pop music, as well as a little of the current day.Though this play presents itself as if it would be easy for young children to understand, it’s not. Indoor/Outdoor is a fun-filled experience, but one for teens and adults to relate to and enjoy.

 

Four Friends and a Musical: A Feature on
[title of show]

By Barbara Fenig, 11th grade,
The Calhoun School

Did you ever wish that you could become successful by just hanging out with your friends and doing what you like? Well, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen have perfected this dream. Hunter and Jeff met eleven years ago and since then they have melded their worlds offstage with an onstage script to create the musical [title of show].

[title of show] is the story of four real-life friends: Susan, Jeff, Hunter and Heidi on their quest to enter a musical into the competitive New York Music Theater Festival. Informed by a fortuitous e-mail, which alerted the cast of the contest and inspired the musical’s creation, Jeff and Hunter began creating a script about the process of writing a script—with an impending three-week deadline. This comedy conveys the true tale of the cast’s lives with only “four chairs and a keyboard” onstage. As the audience watches the cast’s “biography” unfold, and the three-week deadline approach, we anguish alongside Hunter as he debates whether to “Change it, don’t change it,” a musical number that reveals the struggle of whether or not to write to satisfy others or stay true to one’s own belief, a theme that is addressed throughout the musical.

These self-described “Nerds, who were popular enough to fit in” in high school have found their niche in the depths of New York’s musical scene. Hailing from the South, both Jeff and Hunter were enchanted by the world of theatre as they grew up. [title of show] is a stew of the cast’s love of the theater, tightly knit events from their past, inside jokes and their immense friendship, culminating to make a potentially ideal musical. [title of show] tackles the stereotypes of musical theater, while they insert slang, pop culture and even references to Project Runway, an element that we high schoolers will surely enjoy.

Visit the [Title of Show] blog at www.titleofshow.com/blog

The true-to-life script serves as a type of therapy for the cast and allows Jeff, Hunter, Susan and Heidi to confront their fears in front of an audience each night—writers block, and even forgetting to press “save.” Jeff confessed, “If we felt weird about anything, if it… made us feel uncomfortable, then we knew it had to go into the show.” It is this ideology that makes [title of show] stand out from the crowd. I encourage you to take the [title of show] ride, because after all who wouldn’t want to spend an evening with four friends?

[title of show] Students $20 two hours prior to performance, through Apr. 9. Vineyard Theatre, 108 E. 15 St. (212) 353-0303. www.vineyardtheatre.org