This production is big all around – big bouffants, big beehives, and a big heroine with big dreams that transform her seemingly overnight into an unlikely celebrity sensation.
Tabor Academy’s annual musical production this year is Hairspray, starring the talented Hannah Rolighed, a freshman at Tabor and a seasoned actress and dancer.
Rolighed plays the lead role of Tracey Turnblad, and almost appears to become Tracey on the stage, making the role her own and dancing her way through a smashing performance.
In the production, the “pretty-plus” Turnblad is bullied by her peers, stifled by her agoraphobic mother, and perpetually disciplined by her high school principal for exceeding the school’s policy of “inappropriate hair height.”
None of this deters Turnblad, though, as she auditions for a slot on the Corny Collins Show, a local dance TV show, and transforms into a celebrity virtually overnight while catching the attention of the play’s leading heartthrob, Link Larkin. Rolighed’s endearing portrayal of Tracey Turnblad will have the audience falling in love with her, too.
Rolighed was surprised to hear she landed the leading role in this year’s production, even with her experience, which stretches way back to when she was three years old and first started acting.
“I’m very lucky to have the lead role. I wasn’t really expecting it,” said Rolighed. This production of Hairspray at Tabor, though, is much different that anything she has ever participated in before. She said the theater takes getting used to, as well as the dynamics at Tabor.
Rolighed likes the role of Tracey Turnblad, and she said she is particularly fond of the meaning and symbolism behind the production, which ranges from racism to weight discrimination to individuality and the pursuit of one’s dreams.
“It’s really special,” said Rolighed. “I’m told that I embody her (Tracey Turnblad) because I act a lot like her.”
Director Mark Howland said this year’s cast impresses him, saying, “It’s a great cast. They’re very hard working.”
Starring as Turnblad’s nemesis, Amber Von Tussle, is sophomore Aurelia Reynolds – a character you cannot miss with her bleach-blonde beehive and pink poodle skirt. Von Tussle shines on the stage in her role, even if Miss Von Tussle is a lot different than Reynolds in real life.
“I’m the bully to Tracey,” said Reynolds. “It’s really hard acting. There’s a lot of stuff I don’t want to say.”
Amber Von Tussle is one of the first at the Corny Collins Show to make fun of Tracey, and she is relentless throughout the rest of the play, getting nastier and nastier as Von Tussle’s boyfriend begins to fall in love with Tracey.
“I like getting to explore a kind of character that I’m really not like,” said Reynolds.
Amber’s mother, Velma Von Tussle, is played by senior Ellie Sullivan, who is also the singing voice for Rolighed playing Tracey throughout the production.
“She’s really an awful human being,” said Sullivan of her rather strong-willed character, who is out to stop Tracey and push her own daughter into the spotlight.
Sullivan praised the crew and cast, remarking on how many students with no prior acting experience joined the production, resulting in an even more enjoyable experience overall.
“They’re doing a great job,” said Sullivan of her fellow actors. She said the mix of such a diverse group of students has made the experience feel like Tabor’s “very own High School Musical kind of thing,” as Sullivan described it.
Another strong character, Motormouth Maybelle, is played by senior Athena-Rose Jennings, a first-time thespian whose role requires a lot of moving, shaking, and belting out songs like you would not believe.
“My singing doesn’t usually leave the shower,” said Jennings, who said she is more of a theatergoer than an actor, preferring to watch others perform rather than be in the limelight.
Jennings’ blonde beehive is almost as big as Jenning’s voice, by which the audience will be delighted now that Jennings finally freed her singing voice from the confines of the shower.
Hairspray the musical opens Thursday, February 19 and runs through the 20th and 21st.at 7:30 pm at the Fireman Center for the Performing Arts in Hoyt Hall at 235 Front Street, Marion. Tickets are $10 at the door.
