音乐剧《发胶星梦》

The running time of Hairspray is approximately 2 hours 40 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission.

Hairspray is based upon the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, with a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Hairspray is directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.

In Hairspray it's 1962 - the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion--to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show" and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray! Welcome to the '60s!

The musical features an original score by Marc Shaiman (who co-wrote the music and lyrics for the acclaimed animated musical, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) and Scott Wittman. Their songs take Tracy from the soundstage of a 60's-style dance show to the streets of Baltimore to a downtown rhythm and blues record shop.

Creative Team

MARK O'DONNELL (Book)

THOMAS MEEHAN (Book)

MARC SHAIMAN (Music and Lyrics/Arrangements)

SCOTT WITTMAN (Lyrics)

JOHN WATERS (Consultant)

        《纽约时报》剧评人及读者对Hairspray的评论

THEATER REVIEW; Doing Comedy Straight (As Far as It's Possible)

By BEN BRANTLEY

Published: June 23, 2004, Wednesday

The correct size, for the record, is 54 triple E. But filling the bra of Edna Turnblad, the bigger-than-life housewife from the hit Broadway musical ''Hairspray,'' is more than a matter of physical dimensions. Padded lingerie can take a fellow only so far in redefining the role for which Harvey Fierstein received a Tony Award last year. Any actor who tackles Edna must find the heart beneath the fat suit.

That's the challenge faced by Michael McKean, who has taken over Mr. Fierstein's part at the Neil Simon Theater. And if Mr. McKean's performance is more creditable than credible, it should be said that he executes it without flinching and, more important, without winking.

Having appeared in the deadpan film mockumentaries ''This Is Spinal Tap,'' ''Best in Show'' and ''A Mighty Wind,'' Mr. McKean knows the value of playing comedy straight. In donning Edna's well-worn housecoat, he doesn't make the mistake of accessorizing it with overwrought feminine mannerisms. It should be added, for those who cherish the John Waters movie that inspired the musical, that Mr. McKean looks much more like the Edna of the film, the drag diva Divine, than Mr. Fierstein did.

Yet unlike Mr. Fierstein, Mr. McKean never makes that final leap of faith that brings out the woman in a man. He is game, funny and charming as, locating his center of gravity in his newly enhanced chest, he quips and sings his way through this fizzy, overextended pop fable of rock 'n' roll and racial integration, directed by Jack O'Brien. His comic timing and his use of his bass voice to turn a punch line into a home run, àla Fierstein, are beyond reproach.

But only occasionally do you shake off your awareness that Mr. McKean resembles a linebacker in a Hasty Pudding revue. There is a reason other than publicity and cinematic precedent to have a man play Edna. The cross-casting feeds the show's theme of all-embracing tolerance. But what made Mr. Fierstein's performance priceless, and what Mr. McKean has yet to achieve, was his awkward but sincere sensuality. While the wonderful Dick Latessa is still on hand as Edna's husband, Wilbur, the old marital chemistry just isn't there.

This shifts the show's emphasis more than ever to the younger generation in ''Hairspray,'' which is centered on what happens when Edna's 16-year-old daughter, Tracy, wins a spot on a television dance show in Baltimore in 1962. And if the ensemble of high school students doesn't have the same disciplined precision as when ''Hairspray'' opened, its leading teenagers are, if anything, more vital than the originals. Certainly they are a sexier bunch.

The boundary-breaking Tracy is now played by Carly Jibson, in her Broadway debut. She exudes a bright zeal and conviction that rivals that of her Tony-winning predecessor, Marissa Jaret Winokur. Ms. Jibson, who is 19, combines the nubile glow of adolescence with the confidence of an old pro. When this Tracy sings of her devotion to the local teen idol, Link Larkin (Richard H. Blake), she elicits the sound of popping hormones from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's heartfelt pastiche ballads.

A similar perky eroticism now imbues the interracial romance of Penny Pingleton (Jennifer Gambatese), Tracy's best friend, and Seaweed J. Stubbs (Chester Gregory II), the son of the soulful D.J. Motormouth Maybelle (Mary Bond Davis). As the thoroughly winning Ms. Gambatese plays her, Penny is not just a nerdy, uptight cartoon in need of a good, uh, boyfriend. The comic broad strokes are still in place, but they have a newly melting quality. And the dynamic Mr. Gregory conveys the full sexual promise in Seaweed's songs.

Edna and Wilbur aside, the middle-aged characters are, as before, either so virtuous (like Mabel) or so vicious (like the racist television producer Velma Von Tussle, played by Barbara Walsh) that they gnaw at the nerves. It's when ''Hairspray'' is preaching via big-throated anthems or satirizing via clunky caricature that you miss the sustained double-edged campiness of Mr. Waters's movie. Seeing the show again, I was conscious of irritating stretches of tedium that my mind had kindly erased from my first viewing of it.

What this recast ''Hairspray'' does best, and what makes it worth revisiting, is to highlight the randy rhythms in early rock 'n' roll that made parents fear for their children's chastity. With Ms. Jibson and Ms. Gambatese playing girls on the cusp of womanhood, the show vibrates with that sense of new access to previously forbidden pleasures. The show's rousing paean to changing times, ''You Can't Stop the Beat,'' may ostensibly be about social issues like integration. But it is now quite clear that it's a more primal life force that makes this music throb.