October 30 – November 11, 2018
Bill Hanney’s award-winning North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) concludes the 2018 Subscription Season with Broadway’s big, fat, hit musical, HAIRSPRAY, playing for two-weeks only from Tuesday, October 30 thru Sunday, November 11, 2018.
“I cannot think of more satisfying way to end this record-breaking season than with a bubbly, eye-popping, and powerful production of Hairspray,” said Bill Hanney, NSMT owner and producer. “The final show of the subscription season has to be like a fantastic dessert. It needs to be memorable, put a smile on your face, fill you up, and make you want to come back for more. This hysterical and heartwarming show is a favorite of mine, and with Blake Hammond, Brooke Shapiro and this amazing cast under the direction of Jeff Whiting, I know we have the recipe for success!”
HAIRSPRAY, winner of the 2003 Tony Award for ‘Best Musical,’ is piled bouffant-high with laughter, romance, and infectious musical numbers. Set in Baltimore, 1962, Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger dream: to dance her way onto TV, and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for something bigger than her hair – racial integration. HAIRSPRAY is an irresistible, feel-good show with a Tony Award-winning book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan and a Tony Award-winning score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman featuring the hit songs “Welcome To The ‘60s,” “You Can’t Stop The Beat,” “Mamma, I’m A Big Girl Now,” “I Know Where I’ve Boon,” and many more.
The cast of HAIRSPRAY will be led by Blake Hammond as Edna Turnblad and Brooke Shapiro as Tracy Turnblad. Blake Hammond is stepping into the role of Edna Turnblad once more having played her in the Broadway company of Hairspray. He has also appeared on Broadway in Living on Love, First Date, Sister Act, Elf, Billy Elliot, The Lion King, The Music Man, Kiss Me Kate, and On The Town. His Off-Broadway credits include When Pigs Fly, Carnival and Do Re Mi at Encores. Other credits include National Tours of Something Rotten, Cinderella, The Addams Family, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Brooke Shapiro returns to North Shore Music Theatre where she was last seen as Jan in the 2014 production of Grease. She has performed off-Broadway in My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis, The Calico Buffalo, and did the first NYC reading of Love in Hate Nation (a new musical by Joe Iconis). Brooke has also performed in regional theaters across the country including Goodspeed Opera House, Cape Playhouse, Zach Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, and Gateway Playhouse.
Performances are October 30 thru November 11, Tue – Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri & Sat at 8 pm, matinees Wed, Sat and Sun at 2 pm. For tickets and information call (978) 232-7200, visit nsmt.org, or visit the box office at 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA.