Weekend Review: Hard to hold

Tacoma Musical Playhouse opened “Hairspray” to a mostly capacity crowd this weekend. Everyone had a smile as they rose for a standing ovation. It was a great show, one of the best I’ve seen there in years. And that theater knows how to bring it when fun needs to be brought.

This high-energy musical straight from the 1960s was brought to the world courtesy of the brilliantly devilish mind of John Waters, who wrote the film version a few years back. The stage version is a bit more tame than its film sibling, but the nut of the story is still there.

The Baltimore-placed comedy centers on the life and dancing dreams of the less-than-slim heroine, Tracy Turnbla by Julie Drummond. Turnbla has a deam of becoming a dancer on the local TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show,” a very white-bread version of Soul Train and American Bandstand. Through her dance, she brings the races together one step at a time.

Drummond rocks the roll of the Rubenesque heroine with larger-than-life hair. But the true scene stealer was Charles Simmons in the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs. This TMP veteran had the whole package of great dance moves a solid voice and a eye-catching stage presence. His energy brought the whole show to a higher level of fun.

This show should not be missed.