Washington Post - Recommended
"...Setting all the jaunty humor in high relief is Daniel Conway’s smart set: a blue-toned tenement-and-warehouse facade that hints at gritty urban reality, subtly underscoring the wish-fulfillment aspect of the story. (The nine-piece orchestra is tucked away on the structure’s upper level.) The indigo color scheme gives visual pop to Kathleen Geldard’s delectable period costumes, which favor pink and peach tones. Further filigreed by Colin K. Bills’s lighting, the world of “Hairspray” seems more than ever a candy-colored fantasy: something that Tracy Turnblad might dream up while snacking on Atomic Fireballs and Pixy Stix."
Baltimore Sun - Highly Recommended
"...Director Eric Schaeffer has the action flowing seamlessly through Daniel Conway's streamlined set, which leaves plenty of room for the performers to execute the fun choreography by Karma Camp and Brianne Camp. Each burst of dancing somehow gets more kinetic than the last."
Examiner - Recommended
"...
All the lead actors in this "Hairspray" are impressive, but it is the dynamic force of the 11-member ensemble of singers and dancers that makes the musical's impact so intense. Stylishly choreographed by Karma Camp and Brianne Camp, who use every 1960s dance ever created, even when the stage seems to be overflowing with bodies, the action remains focused and clear."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"...After six years on Broadway, national tours and a splashy big-screen adaptation, how much charm could be left in the Charm City of the musical Hairspray? More than you might expect in Signature's new production, as long as you don't expect it from the usual source: the leads."
BroadwayWorld - Recommended
"...
As a transplanted Baltimorean for now more than forty years, I take special pleasure seeing the musical Hairspray based on the John Waters' 1988 film about racism in 1960's Baltimore where the popular "Corny Collins" television dance show (similar to Philadelphia's "Dick Clark's American Bandstand") is not allowed to mix the races on his show. In Baltimore it was known as the "Buddy Dean" show where the young women dancers were known for their buffont hair styles and were the rage."
Washington City Paper - Highly Recommended
"...The Tony-winning 2002 musical adaptation of John Waters’ 1988 movie is tuneful and subversive enough that even those who haven’t seen any of its prior iterations (me) and who approach musicals in general with some degree of skepticism (me, again) will have a good time. And, this new production, directed by Signature poombah Eric Schaeffer, has energy and good humor to burn."
Washingtonian - Highly Recommended
"...Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer is a master of the musical and has created a fast-paced, high-stepping production with lots of style. Karma Camp’s choreography works wonderfully. The costumes are period-perfect, although Tracy’s school clothes looked more Catholic school standard than unstylish. And all of the hair could have been higher. “Haven’t you ever seen a real Baltimore beehive, hon?” But, as the song says, “You can’t stop the beat,” and you wouldn’t want to try. Hairspray is the perfect hoot for the holidays. See it and dance all the way home."
BrightestYoungThings - Highly Recommended
"... The message of Hairspray! is as delightfully positive as Tracy’s, and pokes fun at stingy nonacceptance of those who are irrationally afraid of difference. When she goes to the open audition, she busts a move taught to her by a black friend, Seaweed J. Stubbs (a total dreamboat played by James Hayden Rodriguez ). Corney loves it so much that he picks her as one of his dancers, even though the black kids are blocked from being on the air by an idiotic producer, Velma Von Tussle (Sherri L. Edelen). The instance provokes Tracy to start advocating for “Negro Day everyday!” and creates a movement within Seaweed’s community to get on Corney’s show, gurillea style."
Washington Blade - Recommended
"...Admirably staged by Signature’s gay artistic director Eric Schaeffer, the production is relatively intimate and incessantly entertaining. Per usual, Schaeffer has brought together an able creative team. Karma Camp and Brianne Camp’s vigorous choreography reads like a slice from a great ‘60s dance party. John Kalbfleisch is the musical director and pianist Jenny Cartney conducts a top-notch nine-piece orchestra. The witty, colorful costumes are by Kathleen Geldard and set designer Daniel Conway provides a gritty, midnight blue Baltimore streetscape dominated by a faded advert for Ultra Clutch Hairspray — so much better than the New York production’s Day-Glo explosion."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Hairspray is a dynamite musical not to be missed. It’s the show we’ve been waiting for this holiday season. This Hairspray is overflowing with talent, love and it’s performed so close to the audience that you just can’t help ‘catch that beat.’"
Alexandria Gazette - Highly Recommended
"...With big dreams and even bigger hair, plump and plucky Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad longs to dance on the local American Bandstand-style show in the energetic, toe-tapping musical "Hairspray," now playing at Signature Theatre."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
Miss Cole’s Tracy is as bubbly as a fresh Pepsi, and her performance makes you feel like a pint-sized star is born, especially in the hilarity of her struck-dumb rendition of “I Can Hear the Bells,” a song about meeting Link for the first time, and the wide-open purity of the show’s opening number, “Good Morning, Baltimore,” a love letter to Charm City that includes a flasher and a motorized rat darting across the stage while Tracy sings about her eccentric hometown and her homegrown hopes.
