'Hairspray' delivers heavy message in a joyous way, cast member says

Overcoming superficial biases and racial segregation seem like heavy themes for a musical, but "Hairspray," coming to the River Campus on Sunday, tries to do just that.

In the touring Broadway musical, the big-boned, big-haired Tracy Turnblad dances her way onto a popular television show, then fights to desegregate the program and in turn teach Baltimore a little something about acceptance.

"That's the wonder about 'Hairspray,'" said Daniel Bentley, a cast member of the show. "It's such a heavy message, but it's delivered in such a joyous way. That's why I love it so much."

Southeast Missouri seems to love the show as well. When the box offices closed Friday, 839 tickets had been sold for the 2:30 p.m. matinee and 687 were gone for the 7:30 p.m. show, leaving 63 and 217 tickets, respectively.

Bentley plays Gilbert, one of Seaweed's friends. The two are black and thus allowed to only dance on Negro Night. Tracy takes an extreme interest in trying to integrate "The Corny Collins Show," a popular dance television show.

Bentley, 20, said it's in his top five favorite musicals and is his first professional touring show. He said he got where he is by never giving up.

"It's that day you don't want to get up and take those classes that's going to really count," he said. "You never can give up in this business at all. You've got to keep striving forward."

Which, in part, is what Tracy Turnblad does.

"When you want something, you go for it," Bentley said.

But all seriousness aside, "Hairspray" is a comedy.

"It's such a funny show. There are so many puns," Bentley said.

He throws out lines from the show in casual conversation but said his friends rarely get the joke out of context. Whether the audience gets all the small jokes or not, the theme is easy to understand.

"This show is about just love, togetherness, it's just about sending out a message of equality and love and doing it through dance," Bentley said.

charris@semissourian.com

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