Hairspray Study Guide by Syracuse Stage

EDUCATION

STUDY GUIDE

ABOUT THE AUTHORS “ YOU’RE TIMELESS TO ME!”

homas Meehan (Co-author book) burst onto the Broadway scene with the book for Annie, for which he won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. He also wrote the books for the musicals I Remember Mama, Ain’t Broadway Grand, and Annie Warbucks. He is the co-author of the books for the musicals The Producers (with Mel Brooks, 2001 Tony Award) and Hairspray (with Mark O’Donnell, 2003 Tony Award). In 2014, he provide the book for the Broadway musical version of Rocky.

ark O’Donnell (Co-author book) shared the 2003 Tony Award for Hairspray with Thomas Meehan. He has written the plays That’s It, Folks!, Fables for Friends, The Nice and the Nasty, Strangers on Earth, and Vertigo Park. O’Donnell is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lecomte du Nuoy Prize, and the George S. Kaufman Award.

cott Wittman (Lyrics) has written the lyrics for the musical Catch Me If You Can as well as for the television series Smash. Along with Marc Sharmain, he won the 2003 Tony Award for the Hairspray score.

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arc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics) who began his career as pianist and musical director for cabaret acts, was vocal arranger for Bette Midler and has worked on many films. Along with Scott Wittman, he won the 2003 Tony Award and Grammy Award for Hairspray. He also collaborated with Wittman for Catch me If You Can and the television series Smash.

characters

TRACY TURNBLAD: Optimistic pudgy teen from Baltimore who wants to be a dancer on The Corny Collins Show. She has a strong sense of right and wrong and stands up for her beliefs. EDNA TURNBLAD: Tracy’s shy mother. She takes in laundry for a living. Edna is usually played by a man in drag. WILBUR TURNBLAD: Tracy’s loving father who owns a joke and novelties store, the Har-De-Har Hut. LINK LARKIN: The most popular boy on The Corny Collins Show. Tracy has a crush on him. AMBER VON TUSSLE: The resident teen queen and mean girl on The Corny Collins Show. She and Link used to date.

VELMA VON TUSSLE: Amber’s mom. She produces The Corny Collins Show.

LITTLE INEZ: Seaweed’s little sister who can’t be on The Corny Collins Show because she is not white.

SEAWEED J. STUBBS: A “Negro Day” dancer on The Corny Collins Show. He and Tracy become friends in detention.

HARRIMAN F. SPRITZER: President of Ultra Clutch Hairspray and sponsor of The Corny Collins Show.

MOTORMOUTH MAYBELLE: The host of “Negro Day” on The Corny Collins Show. Seaweed is her son.

THE DYNAMITES: a girl group.

PENNY PINGLETON: Tracy’s klutzy best friend.

MR. PINKY: Proprietor of Mr. Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway clothing store.

PRUDY PINGLETON: Penny’s prudish mother. CORNY COLLINS: Host of The Corny Collins Show. He likes Tracy and is ready to integrate the show.

PHOTO: Costume Designs by Aaron Mastin

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SYNOPSIS

GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE!

It’s 1962 in Baltimore. Plump optimistic teen Tracy Turnblad faithfully watches The Corny Collins Show every day after school. When she finds out that they’re looking for a new girl for their high school dancers, “the Council,” she and her friend Penny Pingleton hurry to the audition against the order of their mothers. At the studio, Tracy literally bumps into Link Larkin, the man of her dreams. She has a nasty encounter with show producer Velma Van Tussle and her daughter, Council member Amber, who is wearing Link’s ring. Velma rejects both the plus-sized Tracy and Little Inez, a black teen who has auditioned. At school the next day, Tracy is given detention for “inappropriate hair-don’t.” There she meets Seaweed Stubbs, a black student who is the son of Motormouth Maybelle, who hosts The Corny Collins Show on “Negro Day” once a month. Seaweed teaches Tracy new dances, which she demonstrates at the Sophomore Hop where Corny Collins is to appear. Impressed with her dancing, he hires her for his show. When she appears on the show, she says that if she were President she’d make every day Negro Day. Spritzer, the sponsor, is apoplectic and appeals to Velma who plots to get rid of Tracey. Meanwhile, Edna is getting calls about Tracy’s appearance on Corny Collins. One call is from Mr. Pinky, the owner of a plus-sized dress shop, who wants her as a spokesperson. Tracy convinces the shy Edna, who hasn’t left the house in years, to come with her to Mr. Pinky’s for a makeover. Not everyone is happy for Tracy. In gym, Amber knocks Tracy out during a game of dodgeball, Link rushes to her rescue. Seaweed invites Tracy, Penny, and the others to his mother’s record shop for a platter party. At the party, Tracy convinces everyone to join in a protest at the station the next day. It’s Mother-Daughter Day on the show and blacks are not allowed to participate. It’s not “Negro Day.” Even Edna and Wilber participate. When they march on the studio, Velma calls the cops, and a fight breaks out. Everyone is arrested. Velma and Amber are immediately released and pardoned. Wilber bails everyone out, but is Tracy is held and put into solitary confinement. Link sneaks in to see her and helps her break out.. Penny’s mother ties Penny up in her room for disobeying, Seaweed comes to her rescue. Together with Motormouth Maybelle, Tracy and her friends devise a plan to integrate The Corny Collins Show. It will all come together with The Miss Teenage Hairspray Competition, which will be a nationally broadcast Corny Collins spectacular. 4 |

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PHOTO CREDITS: Costume Design by Aaron Mastin

Welcome to the 60’s! Candid Camera and Allen Funt: The first hidden camera TV show was devised and hosted by Funt. It was a very popular CBS series. When crazy things happened in real life, people would often ask, “Am I on Candid Camera?” “Castro’s invading”: Tensions were high between the US and Cuba during the Kennedy years, culminating in the 1962 missile crisis, which came close to causing a war between the US and the USSR, Cuba’s sponsor. Chubby Checker: A singer who started a dance craze with his recording of “The Twist” in 1960. Connie Francis: A popular singer in the late 1950’s and the 1960s. She easily moved between rock and a more staid pop music. She appeared in the classic Spring Break movie, Where the Boys Are.

Frankie Avalon and his “favorite Mouseketeer”: Pop star Avalon starred in a series of “beach party movies” with former mousketeer Annette Funicello.

The Gabor Sisters: The glamorous blonde Hungarian sisters Magda, Zsa Zsa, and Eva were the Kardashians of the Fifties. Zsa Zsa and Eva were actresses, but they were pretty much famous for being famous. Gidget: the petite teen surfer girl originally played by Sandra Dee in 1950. The name is a mesh of girl and midget. Gina Lollobrigida: Shapley Italian movie star who was a sexy European import to American films.

Mamie Eisenhower: Wife of President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, she was First Lady from 1953 to 1961. Metrecal: a liquid meal in a can diet drink. The forerunner of Slim•Fast. Peyton Place: The first nighttime TV soap opera. It was based on a seamy bestselling novel and a blockbuster movie. The name became a synonym for a small town with lurid secrets. Rock Hudson and Doris Day: the stars of 1960’s romantic comedies. She was always the good girl that he was trying to seduce. Wilt the Stilt: Wilt Chamberlin, the 7’1” NBA superstar.

Glenn Miller: Popular bandleader and composer of the 1940s. He died in a plane crash during WWII. “Hair Hopper”: A Baltimore term for someone, male or female, who spent too much time on his or her outsized hairdos.

“Don’t tell me Khrushchev has his shoes off again”: On November 17, 1956 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev banged his shoe on the podium of the UN General Assembly and shouted to the Western nations, “We will bury you!”

The Hindenburg: The huge dirigible, at the time the largest aircraft ever flown, exploded into flames as it approached landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, bringing an end to commercial dirigible travel.

Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Liz and Dick: Singer and heartthrob Fisher was married to girl next store movie star Debbie Reynold. He left her for the sultry Elizabeth Taylor. She soon left him for her Cleopatra co-star Richard Burton. They were immortalized as Liz and Dick.

Jackie Gleason: The rotund popular comedian whose show featured The Honeymooners, a sketch about a New York bus driver and his wife. His trademark phrases included “And away we go,” “Hommina hommina hommina,” when he was stuck with nothing to say, and “To the moon, Alice!” when his wife nagged him.

Eva Marie Saint: a beautiful blonde actress who starred in On the Waterfront (1954) and glamorously in Hitchcock’s North By Northwest (1960)

Jackie B. Kennedy: Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the trendsetting wife of John F. Kennedy.

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John Waters Long before he wrote and directed the original film version of Hairspray, John Waters had rightfully earned the titles “The King of Bad Taste” and the “Pope of Trash.” In low budget films made in his native Baltimore, Waters often pushed the envelope of what people would watch. His breakthrough film, Pink Flamingos featuring the rotund drag queen Divine, is often called the grossest film ever made. With each film, Waters tested the boundaries of the outrageous. For Polyester, also starring Divine, theatres distributed scratch and sniff cards for a feature called Odorama. The smells were often disgusting. Then in1988, came Hairspray, a PG rated film harkening back to Waters’ youth in Baltimore when Buddy Deane and high teased hair reigned supreme. Although his peculiar brand of bad taste peeks through occasionally, the tale of plucky teen Tracy fighting to integrate The Corny Collins Show struck a nerve with the general public. Critics hailed Divine’s portrayal of timid Edna Turnblad. Unfortunately, Divine died of heart failure soon after the film was released. With bigger budgets and more well-known actors, John Waters’ films slid into the mainstream with outings such as Crybaby (1990) with Johnny Depp and Serial Mom (1994) with Kathleen Turner. Waters still lives in Baltimore.

THE BUDDY DEANE SHOW John Waters based The Corny Collins Show on The Buddy Deane Show, a daily Baltimore dance party show that was very popular throughout the late Fifties and early Sixties. The enormously popular Buddy six day a week show was a coveted stopping off point for rock and roll stars on their way up the charts. It was one of the many local show along the same lines as Philadelphia’s American Bandstand, which was broadcast across the country and made a TV star of host Dick Clark. In fact, there was a rivalry between the two shows, with Baltimore’s WJZ TV blacking out American Bandstand (supposedly because black teenagers danced on the show) and running Buddy Deane instead. Acts that appeared first on Buddy Deane were banned from American Bandstand, but acts that first appeared on Bandstand were booked with Deane. Because of Baltimore’s location on the edge of the South, Deane featured more country and R&B groups than Dick Clark. Ironically, The Buddy Deane Show was cancelled in 1964 because the station would not integrate its group of high school dancers called “The Committee.” Black acts performed, but local black teens were banned from dancing on air. John Waters used this situation as the central conflict of the original film version of Hairspray. 6 |

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The Supreme Court decision that proceeded from the practice of separate railway cars for blacks and whites. The decision established the constitutionality of separate but equal facilities for the races. This provided cover for segregation laws across the South.

The Supreme Court decision that overturned Plessy v Ferguson found that separate schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. In an unanimous decision, the Court stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

In Montgomery Alabama, Parks refused give up her seat in the colored section of the bus when there was no seat for a white passenger, sparking a bus boycott by 50,000 African Americans and galvanizing the civil rights movement.

The massive civil rights rally at which Martin Luther King delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Monument.

Legislation that made discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, or national origin illegal. It ended unequal application of voter registration laws and segregation in schools, workplaces or public accommodations.

I KNOW WHERE I’VE BEEN!– some landmarks in the fight for civil rights

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Consider the music of Hairspray. What does it tell us of the themes of the show? Because of its unique ability to carry messages, popular music has been a powerful tool for social change. Trace how pop music has functioned this way starting with the rock and R&B of the Fifties through the end of the Sixties. How did music reflect what was happening in American Society? How does popular music function as an agent of change today? Tracy is bullied and ostracized because of her weight. How does she see herself ? Compare her self-image with Edna’s. Which character undergoes the greatest change in the show? In a way, Hairspray is a kind of fairy tale. How does it fit into that category? Consider these components of fairy tales: the plucky heroine who everyone dismisses as worthless, the villain, the handsome prince, the fairy godmother or helper, the transformation, the ball or party at which the heroine is recognized, the trial she must undergo, and the happily ever after. Hairspray takes place in 1962 before the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Trace the struggle for rights beyond the setting of the musical. Is race the only determinant of discrimination? What other groups have fought or are fighting for their rights?

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The hairstyles of early 1960s, huge, teased, and held in place by a thick coating of spray is the style affectionately poked fun at in Hairspray. Take a look at hairstyle, male and female, from the beginning of the twentieth century until now. How does what we do with our hair reflect the world we live in? Create a chart or powerpoint paralleling hair and social movements. In a similar way, consider how dancing has mirrored social changes. Take a look at dance crazes. What do they tell us about their times?

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elements of design LINE can have length, width, texture, direction and

curve. There are 5 basic varieties: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, and zig-zag.

SHAPE is two-dimensional and encloses space.

It can be geometric (e.g. squares and circles), man-made, or free-form.

FORM is three-dimensional. It encloses space

and fills space. It can be geometric (e.g. cubes and cylinders), man-made, or free-form.

COLOR has three basic properties:

HUE is the name of the color (e.g. red, blue, green), INTENSITY is the strength of the color (bright or dull), VALUE is the range of lightness to darkness.

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TEXTURE refers to the “feel” of an

object’s surface. It can be smooth, rough, soft, etc. Textures may be ACTUAL (able to be felt) or IMPLIED (suggested visually through the artist’s technique).

SPACE is defined and determined

by shapes and forms. Positive space is enclosed by shapes and forms, while negative space exists around them.

elements of drama PLOT

What is the story line? What happened before the play started? What does each character want? What do they do to achieve their goals? What do they stand to gain/lose? THEME

What ideas are wrestled with in the play? What questions does the play pose? Does it present an opinion? CHARACTER

Who are the people in the story? What are their relationships? Why do they do what they do? How does age/status/etc. affect them? LANGUAGE

What do the characters say? How do they say it? When do they say it? MUSIC

How do music and sound help to tell the story? SPECTACLE

How do music and sound help to tell the story?

Other Elements: Conflict/Resolution, Action, Improvisation, Non-verbal communication, Staging, Humor, Realism and other styles, Metaphor, Language, Tone, Pattern & Repetition, Emotion, Point of view.

Any piece of theatre comprises multiple art forms. As you explore this production with your students, examine the use of:

WRITING VISUAL ART/DESIGN MUSIC/SOUND DANCE/MOVEMENT

ACTIVITY

At its core, drama is about characters working toward goals and overcoming obstacles. Ask students to use their bodies and voices to create characters who are: very old, very young, very strong, very weak, very tired, very energetic, very cold, very warm. Have their characters interact with others. Give them an objective to fulfill despite environmental obstacles. Later, recap by asking how these obstacles affected their characters and the pursuit of their objectives.

INQUIRY

How are each of these art forms used in this production? Why are they used? How do they help to tell the story?

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REFERENCES: http://www.therep.org/!userfiles/hairspraystudyguide.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairspray_%28musical%29 http://www.biography.com/people/john-waters210964#awesm=~oDYhsaWDKP551V “John Samuel Waters.” 2014. The Biography.com website. May 11 2014 http://www. biography.com/people/john-waters-210964. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304636404577298132546958 436 http://www.education.theatreworkout.com/resources/Hairspray_Study_Guide.pdf https://www.tuts.com/Images/SeasonShowDocs/Hairspray_StudyGuide.pdf http://www.chanhassentheatres.com/files/cdt/files/study_guide_hairspray.pdf http://www.etsb.qc.ca/masseyVanier/documents/Hairspray_StageNotes.pdf http://issuu.com/bcurley/docs/hairspray_sguide_33

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Dear Educator, Live theatre is a place for people to gather and experience the joys, triumphs, and sorrows life has to offer. The Syracuse Stage Education Department is committed to providing the tools to make learning in and through the arts possible, to address varied learning styles and make connections to curriculum and life itself. It is our goal in the education department to maximize the theatre experience for our education partners with experiential learning and in-depths arts programming. Thank you for your interest and support! Sincerely,

Lauren Unbekant Director of Educational Outreach

2013/2014 EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH SPONSORS

yracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experiences that explore and examine what it is to be human. Research shows that children who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher academic achievement, stronger self-esteem, and improved ability to plan and work toward a future goal. Many students in our community have their first taste of live theatre through Syracuse Stage’s outreach programs. Last season more than 30,000 students from across New York State attended or participated in the Bank of America Children’s Tour, artsEmerging, the Young Playwrights Festival, and our Student Matinee Program. We gratefully acknowledge the corporations and foundations who support our commitment to in-depth arts education for our community.

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