By Ashley Davis
Copy Editor
The spring semester is full of musical entertainment and diversions at Baylor, just as it is at McLennan Community College.
The MCC Theater will put on a reproduction of the Broadway hit “Hairspray” in the Ball Performing Arts Center located on the MCC campus at 7:30 tonight and Saturday.
“Hairspray” premiered in 2002 on Broadway and ran for more than 2,500 performances in New York. It is one of the most popular musicals in American history. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Md., the play is about a plump teenage girl, Tracy Turnblad, who loves to dance and miraculously wins a spot on the leading local after school dance show, “The Corny Collins Show.” Tracy becomes a celebrity overnight and wins friends on both sides of the spectrum, black and white, in a world where races are not supposed to mix. Tracy launches a campaign to get the Corny Collins show integrated.
This musical is a well-known social commentary on the injustices of discrimination and segregation during the Civil Rights controversies of the ’50s and ’60s. The 2008 film starring Nikki Blonski, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes and Christopher Walken has won several awards all over the country. The witty wordplay mixed with upbeat songs and dances have been woven into this show to make a powerful point on the Civil Rights movement that was so integral to the development of a more accepting and diverse country.
Dayna Richardson, a recent Baylor graduate who plays one of the Dynamites in the play, said she is excited to be a part of this production. As someone who loves to be on the stage and aspires to have a career in show business, Richardson said “Hairspray” is a good name to have on a resume. Richardson has been a part of several productions and shows at Baylor and in the Waco community. Last year she played one of the feisty cellmates in “Chicago” for the Waco Civic Theater.
“It’s been a blast working with MCC to make this happen,” Richardson said. “Every show has its rough spots and unexpected turns in rehearsals and choreography, but I hope the end result will show how much we as a cast have come together.”
Tickets are $10 for adults and MCC students and $8 for seniors and non-MCC students and can be bought at the MCC box office or by calling 254-299-8200. Though tickets are sold out for the rest of the showings, officials at the MCC Box Office say students who don’t have a ticket but still want to see the show can arrive at the theater an hour early and put their names on a waiting list. The officials said tickets that haven’t been claimed at least 15 minutes before the show will be given to the waiting students on a first-come, first-serve basis.
