Hairspray

The story of Hairspray

Set in Baltimore in the early 1960s, Hairspray follows Tracy Turnblad, an upbeat teenager with big hair and bigger dreams, as she auditions for a local television dance show and finds herself at the center of both a personal triumph and a push for racial integration on the program. Her infectious optimism and dance moves win her fans, but also put her at odds with the show's status quo.

Underneath its candy-colored surface, the show tackles serious themes of body image, prejudice, and civil rights, using humor and heart rather than heavy-handedness to make its points land.

The music and the makers

The score was composed by Marc Shaiman, who captures the sound of early 1960s pop and Motown-adjacent radio hits with irresistible, danceable energy. The songs are bouncy and hook-driven, built for big group numbers and joyful choreography.

That period-accurate sound is part of what makes the show so much fun in performance, since the music itself evokes the exact television and radio culture the story is satirizing and celebrating at the same time.

Hairspray on Broadway

Hairspray opened on Broadway in the early 2000s, adapted from an earlier film, and quickly became a crowd favorite thanks to its irresistible energy and feel-good message. It proved that a musical comedy with genuine social conscience could also be pure, danceable entertainment.

Its lasting popularity comes from that balance of joy and substance, offering audiences big laughs and big dance numbers while still saying something meaningful about acceptance and change.

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