‘Hairspray’ @ Stolen Shakespeare Guild
Photos by Delaney Rain Photography
—Jan Farrington
There’s something so hopeful about Hairspray. I have the strangest feeling that if we’d just left the whole black-and-white thing in the eager hands of Tracy and Penny, Seaweed, Edna and Motormouth Maybelle (from the Sixties civil rights era to now)…things might be working out better.
Still, it’s good to enjoy (and feel for) characters with an upbeat take on changing the world, and Tracy Turnblad, the optimistic go-getter at the heart of this heartfelt musical, is a character you’ll never forget. Set in inner-city Baltimore in the moment when the Fifties status-quo rulebook gave way to the Sixties streak of “make things better,” Hairspray leans happily into the near future, where girls and women grow more powerful, race issues get some justice, and the music…gets better by the year.
Fort Worth’s Stolen Shakespeare Guild opens its brand-new and very handsome theater space with this show. The new place is nestled into a corner of the city’s North Side, halfway between I-35W and the Fort Worth Stockyards district—a bit closer to Dallas and the Mid-Cities, and an easy jump for citizens of The Fort as well. (See address below.) The footprint is still a wide rectangle with all seats close up to the stage, and apparently will fit a cast of 27 actors and dancers: Hairspray, by head count, is the biggest show of SSG’s new season, with a set design (TV camera, stage, and colorful dance floor) by Jason and Lauren Morgan.
The diverse ensemble of “leads” share a remarkable chemistry onstage, and are skilled performers as actors, singers, and dancers. The lively early-Sixties choreography is by Jessica Peterson, and the cast has plenty of rousing numbers to take on—with Jennifer Stewart’s sound always coming through crisp and clear.
Tracy is played from the heart by Jessica Holt, as a plump and pretty outsider in the high school social whirl (all about looks, class, race, and money). She travels her own path through that complicated world, moving too fast to let the glamour girls’ jokes about her land anywhere close. Still, she must threaten them in some way, or they wouldn’t bother; Tracy’s powerful spirit scares them, I think.
In some ways she’s a regular gal, crushing hard on local afternoon TV star Linc Larkin (preening but kinda sweet Jacob De Jacimo), who’s on the popular “Corny Collins Show” led by brash Keith J. Warren as the hustling Corny himself. But there’s more, much more to her—and to the musical’s through line about the rise of feminine power.
Tracy’s BFF is her neighbor and classmate Penny Pingleton (Samantha Snow plays her quirky and courageous), a shy teen with the guts to break away from the rigid rules of her mother (Stephanie Glenn) and go where her heart leads her—to Seaweed J. Stubbs (charismatic Lar Macklin), the courageous and dance-crazy Black son of Motormouth Maybelle (Chandra Calloway Owens can fill a room with song), who runs the Corny Collins hour on the monthly “Negro Day” when Black teens can come to the TV studio and do a segregated broadcast. Maybelle’s daughter Little Inez (and Seaweed’s baby sister) is played by sweet and tuneful Mylah James, who shows why (if pure talent won out), the Corny Collins show would let Inez and friends dance every…single…day.
The adult leads are engaging too: Robert Bradford Smith is marvelous as Tracy’s Mom Edna; she’s odd, and funny as they come, but maintains a fierce dignity, and teaches Tracy some strong ideas about standing up for herself and others. (Smith looks great in a boa-trimmed caftan—great costumes in amazing abundance from SSG co-founder Lauren Morgan.) Gary Payne lands a wonderful performance as Edna’s husband Wilbur, owner of a joke shop and a guy just plain in love with his unusual wife—no matter how long they’ve been married. They’re a great twosome.
As the TV station’s producer Velma Van Tussle, Emily Bailey’s excellent platinum bouffant precedes her (great wigs by Keith J. Warren) as she lays down her My Way or the Highway orders to everyone. Nothing’s going to change at WZZT, she says grimly. Wanna bet? Velma’s teen daughter Amber (Emily French is hilariously bullying and pushy) is climbing the ladder toward local TV fame…but she and Mom don’t see Tracy coming.
Directors Tatum Love and Liv Hopkins need a high Ten for their great management of this crowded, busy show. Lauren Morgan is the music director, and the singing—almost always kept up while dancing—is strong and fun to hear: Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s songs have catchy melodies (try getting “You Can’t Stop the Beat” out of your head), but their clever rhymed lyrics stay with us just as solidly. Hairspray, to fill in an info gap, started as a 1988 movie from the offbeat John Waters, was adapted as a Broadway musical (book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan) in 2002, and became a hit movie (with John Travolta as Edna) in 2007.
I can’t sign off without mentioning the rest of the cast: Jonathan Charles as harried station sponsor Mr. Pinky; great soul-singer trio The Dynamites (Asaysha Hearns, Madison McKinzie, and Liv Hopkins); the smooth Baltimore Ensemble (Alfonso David, Randy Blount, and Preston Busby); and the rest of the Corny Collins Council of cool teens, dance captain Sarah Gould, Jocelyn Iosak, Cassandre Samson, Katelyn Sarbach, Jordan Kuzmack, Tony Barone, Gabriel Hawthorne, and Trent Mosty.
See Hairspray for the crackerjack songs and dancing, and for a spirit-raising jolt of pure musical-theater energy. It’s a happy show, and Stolen Shakespeare Guild does it proud.
WHEN: July 11-27, 2025
WHERE: 3623 Decatur Avenue, Fort Worth
WEB: stolenshakespeareguild.org
