Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)
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Free Music Notes for Hairspray (2002 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: Captures the true feel of the show!
Hit: 5 Stars
From the opening scene, where Marissa Jaret Winokur wakes up to take on the world (or at least Baltimore), we know that this will be a show filled with energy and excitement. The basic plot of the original movie is captured, but the stage show features all new songs (except for a new version of "The Madison," which is on the movie soundtrack). Tracy, like most teenagers in the early sixties, dreamed of being popular, getting a handsome boyfriend, and getting a shot at fame on the local "American Bandstand"-type show. The final number is called "You Can't Stop the Beat," so it's not really a spoiler to say that everything turns out all right in the end, for everybody.Marissa Winokur is terrific as the idealistic but plump Tracy Turnblad, and Harvey Fierstein is hilarious as Edna, Tracy's mother, originally played by Divine. Divine played the movie role as though he were really a female; Mr. Feirstein does get to have a bit of fun with the irony that loving Mom is a man in a dress.
There are a few slower songs; the love ballad "It Takes Two," the spiritual "I Know Where I've Been," and the schmaltzy "You're Timeless to Me." They're important to explore the characters, advance the plot, and keep the audience from collapsing with exhaustion after all the big dance numbers.
A review elsewhere said that the audience was dancing in the aisles during the finale. I saw the show and actually got to witness this! The show centers around a TV teenage dance show, and most of the songs have roots in 60's dance hits. "You Can't Stop the Beat," and you can't resist the urge to get up and enjoy the music the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
Free Music Review: BUY THIS CD 5 Stars
This is hands down the most rocking Original Broadway Cast recording in years. In it's incredible simplicity...it accomplishes astonishing results. Here's what it has to offer:1. A score full of melodies so infectious that they are, as once put, "simply irresistible."
2. Before the show has opened on Broadway, New York Magazine has called it, "the year's hottest show." Jesse Green of The New York Times called Marc Shaiman's music "the best pop Broadway score... since pop and Broadway parted company some 30 years ago." Entertainment Weekly declares, "Cross 'Grease' with 'Little Shop of Horrors' and you have an inkling of the giddy joy this disc imparts."
3. The following blessing from the "Hairspray" creator, John Waters: "Listening to the feel-good numbers about rats, flashers, hickies, ratted hair and 'checkerboard chicks' turns me into a happy Walt Disney on hallucinogenics, hoping whole busloads of twisted Broadway tourists go to the theatre, abandon their diets and feel sexy about it."
So...what's wrong with you?!?!
If you can get to New York...buy your tickets now...If you can't...buy this CD yesterday.
You'll want to be up and dancing but will be collapsed on the floor laughing and crying from the sheer jolt of joy this show has to offer.
As a fortunate soul who saw the show in it's Seattle pre-Broadway run...I sleep better knowing that Broadway theatre is about to take one giant step closer to healing it's wounds and celebrating "Divine"-ly inspired musical theatre at it's apex.
Free Music Review: Don't Walk..Run to get this CD
Hit: 5 Stars
Having gotten a preview sample of 3 songs from Hairspray earlier in the summer and not having had the common sense to listen to it right away..I tell you not to make the same mistake. The original cast recording has to be one of the best to come along in years. The enthusiasm of the cast and the great score shine through all across the board. In this day and age where real life is sometimes too harsh to bear, its great to be able to find away to escape and get lost in the 60's. The cast is amazing one and all. Marissa Jaret Winokur and Matthew Morrison are fantastic as the destined to be couple, Tracy and Link. Kerry Butler and Corey Reynolds are equally as great as the tentative bi-racial twosome in the making, Penny and Seaweed. And not enough can be said of Harvey Fierstein, who is absoultely fabulous as the larger then life mother, Edna. So many songs feel like showstoppers and will make you tap your feet and sing along. From the opening number "Good Morning Baltimore",to Tracy's declaration of love to Link in "I Can Hear The Bells", to the rousing quartet in "Without Love" and the rousing finale "You Can't Stop The Beat" you will be hooked. Having just seen the show in NYC ..all I can say is it even tops the CD. Do youreself a big favor and treat yourself to the CD..then I dare you to not see the show. It's one of the best shows to come along in years..Enjoy!!Free Music Review: A BIG, fun musical!
Hit: 5 Stars
In preparation for a trip to NY to see Hairspray, I started listening to the soundtrack. Let me just say that by the time I went to actually see the show, I could have performed the entire thing myself. The music is fun, though heavily influenced by pop. The tunes are catchy, the lyrics impossibly cute, and the singing is outstanding. It's a corny show, so if you really don't like that stuff, then Hairspray isn't for you. On the other hand, the show is meant to by corny (after all, there's a character called Corny Collins) so it's just plain fun. Penny, played by Kerry Butler, has an amazing voice (especially when she BELTS!), and Seaweed and Link, played by Corey Reynolds and Matthew Morrison, are also equally amazing. And then of course there's Harvey Fierstein, who plays Tracy's mother. He adds tremendously to the already hilarious cast. This is without mentioning Clarke Thorell, Mary Bond Davis, and of course, Marissa Jaret Winokur... the show truly could not be any better. The pit orchestra is outstanding; there are multiple sax solos. A lot of people seem to be against this show because it's silly and corny, but Hairspray actually deals with some pretty serious issues, although (of course) everything turns out perfect. I told you it was corny! But it is great listening as long as you're in a silly mood as well. To sum it all up, for fun listening, buy this soundtrack!Free Music Review: Soon to be classic stuff
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the zippiest, most accessible Broadway score in ages. Particular standouts are the rousing opener, "Good Morning Baltimore," which really gets the CD (and the show) off and running at breakneck speed, the fabulous "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now" (which with careful marketing could actually be a Top-40 hit), "The Big Dollhouse" (listen for the clever references to "Chicago" and "Gypsy"), the delightful Harvey Fierstein/Dick Latessa duet "(You're) Timeless To Me" (which stops the show cold and is getting all the early press as the best number), and "Without Love" a zinger of a double duet between the four young principals.My favorite is "You Can't Stop The Beat" which raises the roof of the Neil Simon Theatre every performance (it's the closing number and they can't reprise it enough). Want to see 20 year olds and 60 year olds dancing in the same aisle?. Watch this.
There isn't a clunker in the bunch, and some of the numbers, particularly "The Legend of Miss Baltimore Crabs" actually seem to work better on CD (of course it helps to know the plot of the show).
A lock for the Best Score Tony unless I'm very, very surprised.
Ditto Best Orchestrations.
And there's no one like Harvey. Who can possibly replace him in this show? It will be interesting to see.