You Can’t Stop the Beat!
by Jenny Bunn
Asheville Community Theatre’s 67th season will open September 21 with the musical comedy Hairspray, featuring a cast of 48 actors, singers, and dancers, many making their ACT debuts. “We are thrilled to open our season with a musical as ebullient as Hairspray,” said Susan Harper, Managing Director. “From the music to the dancing to the singing, this show is full-throttle high-energy from start to finish!”
Set in Baltimore in 1962, when change is in the air! Loveable plus-size heroine, Tracy Turnblad, has a passion for dancing, and wins a spot on the local TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show.” Overnight she finds herself transformed from outsider to teen celebrity. She then launches a campaign to integrate the show with the help of her new black friends, Seaweed and his mother, activist Motormouth Maybelle Stubbs. By the end of the show, Tracy has won the heart of the local teen idol, Link Larkin and has engineered a happy ending for her friends including the complete integration of “The Corny Collins Show.”
Asheville Community Theatre’s production of Hairspray is directed by Jerry Crouch who has previously helmed such musicals as Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Peter Pan, and Oliver! for ACT. Elizabeth Sheppard, a newcomer to the ACT stage, endearingly stars as Tracy with ACT veteran actor Richard Blue co-starring as her fussy mother, Edna (a role played by John Travolta in the 2007 film version).
Gracie Turner and Brad Mercier will dazzle audiences with their voices and comedy as Tracy’s best buddy, Penny and her boyfriend, Link. Evil mother and daughter and arch-enemies of Tracy are Leslie Lang and Sydney Troxler as Velma and Amber Von Tussle.
Rounding out the principal roles are ACT veterans Mark Jones and Wes McCleary-Small as Corny Collins and Seaweed Stubbs, and ACT newcomers Keturah Dickerson and Jalen Blair, who will bring down the house with their powerful voices, as Seaweed’s mother and brother, Maybelle and Little Ike.
Musical direction is by Ron Whittemore and choreography is by Tina Pisano-Foor.
Hairspray, September 21 through October 14. Performances Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 adults; $22 seniors/students; $15 children. Asheville Community Theatre, 35 East Walnut St. Phone (828) 254-1320 or go to www.ashevilletheatre.org
