“Hairspray” the musical is making its debut at MHS this year. Judi Greene, director, said she has been on a waiting list for the play’s rights for 2-3 years.
Greene originally saw the show when it was still on Broadway and immediately fell in love with it.
“It has a strong message against prejudice, whether it’s talking about skin color, weight or IQ. I think it’s a great message for high school students to hear,” Greene said.
Ten minutes after rights were released for community theater to put on the show, Greene had already signed MHS up for it.
Auditions took place on Thursday, Dec. 2 and Friday, Dec. 3, where students sung 16 bars of a song and they received a few lines of the show to demonstrate their acting talents to Greene. Then the next day students had about 30 minutes to learn a dance and perform it with a group of other auditioning students.
Green plans to cast about 50 students in the show that will hit the stage this March.
Gabby Mancuso, sophomore, received the lead role of Tracy Turnblad and said she was thrilled to get the part.
“I didn’t expect getting the lead at all,” Mancuso said.
Mancuso said in preparation for the show, she will write out all her lines to memorize them as well as practice all the songs.
Will Moore, senior, got the role of Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s mom. Moore said he is excited to play the role of Edna.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever done,” Moore said.
As for preparation for the role, Moore said some time at home will help prepare him greatly.
“I’m going to spend a lot of time with my mom to prepare for this role,” Moore said.
Jason Winter, choir director, is helping with the vocal portion of “Hairspray. Before this year, Winter said he has helped consistently with musicals since he started teaching here five years ago, and he helped the MHS Theater Company with a few musicals before then.
The cast of the show will rehearse everyday after school to prepare until the show premiers, Winter said.
Winter also said because Hairspray has a lot of “heavy singing” he will stress vocal health and supporting sound with air while singing.
Winter said each musical has its own challenges and “Hairspray” will not be any harder or easier than the others he has worked on.
“Hairspray” is tough because of the amount of songs and how many songs have dances with them,” Winter said.