Black History Month Celebrated with "Hairspray" at Beef & Boards

February is Black History Month in 2011. Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis is contributing to the celebration with its offering of the Tony Award winning musical Hairspray. This rousing musical features the poignant and humorous struggle of a group of teens fighting for the right to allow whites and blacks to dance together on the local TV sock-hop show. Tracy Turnblad, the heroine of the Broadway hit, leads an effort to integrate the segregated white kids only Corny Collins Show. Early in the show we learn that the black teens have one day a month, "Negro Day", when they are allowed on the air.

Thus the stage is set for Tracy to vigorously pursue her quest for the racial integration of the TV show. In addition to her quest for "the new frontier" as she calls it, the audience is treated to the joy and angst of her relationship with Link Larkin, a typical teen heart throb. Link is smitten by Tracy, but is also closely tied to Amber, a blatantly bigoted teen and star of the Corny Collins Show.

Make no mistake, Hairspray is a delightful, funny, foot tapping musical. The musical score written for the show could easily have come from the vaults of the 1960's. The racial attitudes of the times are presented with taste and humor. When Tracy and her friend Penny visit her black friends a parade of whites soon follow, including both girls' mothers. As yet another white person shows up, one of the black teens quip "if we get any more in here, it'll be a suburb". The arrival of Amber's highly prejudiced lily white mother Velma prompts the comment that "this looks like Doris Day at the Apollo".

One notable character is the African American matriarch, Motormouth Maybelle. Her record shop is the location of several scenes. She belts out an emotional tune including the lyrics "There's a dream in the future; There's a struggle we have yet to win" echoing the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. This selection nearly brought the house to its feet.

Overweight Tracy does not fit the mold of the "nicest kids in town" already on the show. After learning new dances moves she finally earns a spot on the still segregated show. She then leads a march demanding integration which lands her and her friends in jail. Not to be stopped, Tracy then leads an interracial dance on the air during the Corny Collins Show that she declares "is now and forever more officially integrated!" Host Corny Collins agrees and announces "America look up! Here's history right before your eyes. Television will never be the same."

Yes, the production has a happy ending. Motormouth Maybelle sings "Tomorrow is a brand new day, and it don't know white from black." True to the times, the portrayal of the successful integration of the Corny Collins Show mimics that beginning of a new era in civil rights. Not all victories have been won. However, the grand finale song of Hairspray reminds us all that "You Can't Stop the Beat."

It is fitting that Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre chose Hairspray to run during Black History Month. The production continues through March 27 in the intimate space of this comfortable venue. For more information visit the Beef & Boards website.

Source:
Personally enjoyed the evening performance on 02/05/2011
Beef & Boards