Were Area Critics Blown Away by Hairspray in Las Vegas?

The trimmed version of Hairspray took its bow this week, when it opened at Las Vegas' Luxor Theatre. Starring original Broadway stars Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa and tour company member Katrina Rose Dideriksen as central character Tracy Turnblad, the Sin City mounting comes in at an intermission-less 90 minutes. Did critics feel like shaking and shimmying it with all of their might after watching this take on the Tony-winning musical?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Phil Gallo of Variety: "Slightly trimmed and spritzed to elicit a new bounce, Hairspray arrives in Las Vegas with a spirit true to its original production, but with a newfound emphasis on its integration subplot. What was once a giddy tuner about a plump, teen realizing her dream of appearing on a TV dance show in 1962 Baltimore is now a primer in desegregation. The shift in perception owes largely to the performances—a powerful African American cast dwarfing a non-infectious Tracy Turnblad—that may only grow more distinct in a few months when Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa leave the cast. The deftly delivered comedy is still a load of fun. But it's rather stunning how such a seemingly superficial tuner can have its tone adjusted by the levels of believability and the sharpness of perfs in roles that aren't the constant center of attention."

Charles McNulty of The Los Angeles Times: "The bouffant may not have started in Vegas, but it definitely looks at home here. The same could be said for Hairspray… The infectious rhythm and blues score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman sounds great on the glitzy Strip, and the naughty jokes of Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan's book are a neat fit with Sin City. Though the new production is just a shadow of its Broadway self, it still makes for a brisk theatrical respite from the more guilt-inducing diversions clamoring inside those gargantuan casino pleasure domes… Though he's still better than any of the stars who ludicrously tried to fill his orthopedic flats, Fierstein has grown hammier and more self-conscious."

Jerry Fink of The Las Vegas Sun: "Hairspray will leave you breathless. This energetic Broadway transplant is almost non-stop song-and-dance from the opening number, 'Good Morning Baltimore,' to the closing, 'You Can't Stop the Beat.' In between there is enough comedy and romance to satisfy any fan of light-hearted theater… While there may be an underlying message about racism and other issues, the real message in this production is entertainment."

Mike Weatherford of The Las Vegas Review-Journal: "The Luxor's new production of the Broadway hit is so impeccably produced that it hits the wall only with the limits of the musical as written, one that tries so hard to be fun that it eventually forgets about everything except trying to be fun. Fiersten, [Fran] Jay [who plays Motormouth Maybelle] and Dick Latessa are welcome adult supervision for a youthful cast that could drift away on the wigs and frenetic dance maneuvers… Dideriksen and [Chandra Lee] Schwartz [who plays Penny Pingleton] are wonderful performers, but they can only do so much to make us think hanging with the hip black crowd is anything more than a modern, revisionist conceit of the writers."