Hairspray

Nicest kids in town

Hairspray tells the story of a young girl named Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an
even bigger dream. Living in Baltimore in 1962, we watch her dance and sing her way onto the
Corny Collins show on national television. Winning the hearts of the local public in which she
soon uses to help fight for integration. However, her fight doesn’t come without obstacles as she is
fighting for equality for all and stopped many times by the police.

Tracy wins a role on the Corny Collins Show, becoming an overnight sensation from which, she
launches a campaign to integrate the show.

Nicest kids in town is one of the songs sung by corny Collins on the corny Collins show,
involving a role call introduction to introduce all the characters and their personalities.

Tracy and her friend are obsessed with the show because of the hits and the show representing
teenage royalty. Tracy holds a lust over link on top of that. This is what gets her to where she did,
from her pure passion towards the show and performing.

Meaning of the song

The ‘nicest kids in town’ may be popular according to the lyrics but are in fact don’t sound too
bright according to Corny Collins.

“forget about your algebra and calculus, you can always do your homework on the morning bus”

“can’t tell a verb from a noun, there the nicest kids in town”

“you’ll never get to college, but you’ll still look cool”

The song satires the youth cultures and obsession with popularity even at the expense of academic
success which highlights the reality at the time of 1960.

Long term targets

 Not to be so tense and worried about getting it right all the time
 Release any tension and relax/enjoy the movements
 Remain with good technique but don’t hold tension as it shows stiffness and makes it
appear you’re not confident what you’re doing
 Perform at my fullest, keeping in character and being full of energy

Choreographer Jerry Mitchel

Early life and education
Jerry Mitchel was born in paw paw, Michigan, later moving to St louis where his acting, dancing
and directing career in theatre began. After attending fine arts college at Webster university for a
year, he didn’t graduate but received an honorary degree in 2005.Today he resides in Manhattan
and St Lewis.
Career
Mitchell's early Broadway credits were as a dancer in The Will Rogers Follies and revivals of
Brigadoon and On Your Toes. He is openly gay
His first professional credit as a choreographer was for the 1990 Alley Theatre world premiere of the
musical Jekyll & Hyde, as in 1999 his first Broadway production as sole choreographer the revival
of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which he followed with The Full Monty.
Jerry has created and directed for many years the annual Broadway Bares benefit for Broadway
Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In addition to the theatre, he has choreographed for films such as
Camp, In & Out and Drop Dead Gorgeous as well as claiming an Emmy Award nomination for
his work on The Drew Carey Show.
In 2003 Mitchell was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". He directed and
choreographed Legally Blonde: The Musical, which opened in April 2007, serving as a mentor on
Bravo's reality competition Step It Up and Dance in 2008.
Furthermore he has created, directed, and choreographed a stage show for Las Vegas, Peepshow,
opening at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in 2009. He was involved in workshops for the
stage musical version of the film Catch Me If You Can.
In 2013, Jerry directed and choreographed the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. He won the Tony
Award for Best Choreography and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a
Musical. He is the director of the new musical On Your Feet!, about the lives of Gloria and Emilio
Estefan. on November 5th, 2015, the musical premiered in Chicago in June 2015 and opened on
Broadway at the Marquis.
He is the director and choreographer of the new musical Half Time, based on the film Gotta Dance,
which began performances on December 13, 2015 at Chicago’s Bank of America Theatre, and ran
through January 17 in 2016. May 3st in 2018, the musical opened at the Paper Mill Playhouse in
Millburn, New Jersey.
Stage work

 Jekyll & Hyde (World Premiere)

 Three Men on a Horse (1993 revival)
 Grease (1994 revival)
 Jekyll & Hyde (1999 Second National Tour)
 You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Revival)
 The Rocky Horror Show (2000 revival)
 The Full Monty (2000)
 Hairspray (musical) (2002 Broadway) (2007 & 2020 West End)
 Imaginary Friends (2002)
 Gypsy (2003 revival)
 Never Gonna Dance (2003)
 La Cage aux Folles (2004 revival)
 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005)
 Legally Blonde: The Musical (2007)
 Peepshow (2008)
 Catch Me If You Can (2009 Seattle, 2011 Broadway)
 Love Never Dies (2010 West End)
 Kinky Boots (musical) (2013 Broadway) (2014 US Tour) (2015 West End)
 On Your Feet! (2015 Chicago and Broadway)
 Pretty Woman: The Musical (2018 Chicago and Broadway)
Practical progress
Our routine was a replica of the original choreography by Jerry Mitchel taught in sections.

Week 1

Stamina is an area which really stood out to me today. After doing an intense cardio warm up I
was very exhausted having already had gym today. I did it all nonstop which is a positive, but I
wish to be able to do that and still have as much, if not more energy than when I started class.
This energy will then help me in the main jazz class, which is also new to me having only just
started at college. This is something my personal trainer can help me with. Turns, like ballet are
still an area of weakness particularly in parallel as needed in jazz. Richard pointed out I am
almost using several spots when turning and its particularly difficult in the studio with nothing
in particular to spot. Perhaps placing a coloured dot on the wall and practice spotting just on foot
and then when turning will help prevent the occurring dizziness I keep experiencing. More core
strength with also help, squeezing and pulling up and out of the torso towards the ceiling. Besides
my technical improvements, we have begun learning a dance from the musical ‘Hairspray’, which
again is insanely fast and precise. Being taught it quickly at the end of a session, I found it
difficult to keep up with the wave of material. Therefore, being an already existing piece, I shall go
over it at a slower pace in my own time to learn the steps in detail before rushing into the fast pace
of the song.

Week 2

This week I have finally mastered the Matt mattocks co-ordination phrase, but still need to work
on getting it right every time without any mistakes. After Richard changed it and made it
harder, I found it hard to pick that up as well, so think it would be best to research and learn some
of his phrases to develop his style and instant co- ordination I can apply to any routine.
Continuing our hairspray routine, I am beginning to embed the movement into my body, but still
am not that confident with it. Repetition and recapping the steps will be the way to build my
memory and confidents ready for the performance December.

Week 3

The warmup exercise is becoming easier with time as I am building up my stamina with my pt. it
still feels challenging but not awfully hard with more energy for the rest of the lesson.
Continuing with the show piece, it’s just he nearly getting all the movement memory in my body.
The only challenge we faced this lesson was doing poche’s at the bar and centre as I need to make
my flexibility equal if not more than the right leg to reach 6 o’clock with my leg. Stretching in
an over split will help as well as making sure to build the strength in the legs and core to control
and balance the position. Finally, the show piece is coming together and just needs to be finished
off and polished.

Week 4

Coming up to the show I need to get the movement memory of hairspray nailed before the
performance. Then just adding an added layer of performance will really help, especially being a
musical this element is key. Finishing the routine of, Richard has added a musical element as we
“aaahhh” in harmony to add extra performance and fun to the performance as well as challenging
is as dance students, as all dance industries now require you to sing. With a passion for singing,
I love this element and hope to have similar challenges in the future. Following is the second half
we have added to the choreography which has finally concluded the piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8TwVm6wKB0&feature=youtu.be

Week 5

After finishing nicest kids in town from hairspray last week we have started to embed the
movement memory in our heads and bodies as well as clarifying the energy and afford required
to pull of the piece. Apart from polish it in general and trying it in the smaller theatre space there
is not much more to do or improve as of yet. Following is the piece as a whole is at its finished but
roughest stage now but will be hopefully perfected by the show.

Week 6

Slowly going through the piece, we polished sections and really tried to get into the energetic style
of the piece ready for Wednesdays performance next week. For me I just need to work getting those
double pivot turns in at the begging to make it neat and precise instead of looking rushed. Apart
from that it is looking much better and here is a video of our full run through...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m084BOkSt9k&feature=youtu.be

Tech rehearsal

First run through of tech was a bit disastrous, with lots of spacing issues have never done it in a
small space before. However, we slowly went through formations and got it better, as well as
improving our energy and facial expressions which it really relies on as a fairly non-technical
piece. Performance is key. The second run through went really well and just a bit more energy and
remembering all of the movement memory should make it a fun and enjoyable performance.

Dress rehearsal

Hairspray went really well in terms of spacing, performance and movement. With just a bit more
energy, shouting our names loudly in our character during the roll call and everyone being
exactly of time it will look great for the show tonight.

final performance
Overall hairspray as a whole went really well for me personally, making sure to execute the fast
pace movement ore icky and in time with the music, as well as using the energy and performance
skills to bring the performance to life. Hairspray is an extremely energetic piece which requires to
be done full out to look any good. I felt I did just all I could to try and achieve this, working on
maintaining this energy level through rehearsal discipline and repetition. The general movement
of the piece was simple but fast which meant precise and energised execution was key to a good
performance. Having changed the singles to a double in one lesson i worked hard to fit these in as
best I could in terms of technique and timing. Personally, I felt I made no mistakes in terms of
movement memory but there is always technique and stylistic/ performance elements to work on.
My focus tried to remain projected out to the audience, sending energy out to the far end of the
theatre. Certain improvement Richard had given me went through my head when performing and
i felt I did them all in the best way I could under the pressure of an audience, which actually
pushed my performance further in a positive way. The timing went fairly well as I hit all the beats
required, with also the actual movement material being personally remembered, noticing a few
people around me forgetting certain sections or a timing issue. I kept to what I knew was correct as
well as adapting to keep in time with everyone else, keeping it unified. I feel that some things
could have gone better like ....

 didn’t fit in double pivot turn the first time- need to practice them via spotting and
whipping head to get around in time
 Timing on jump needed to be more together- looked messy not being all together so need to
work on being more uniform as a group in class/future rehearsals
 Some forgot movement at points- making sure everyone is certain on the movements
before moving on, helping others if stuck
 Neatness of arms in jump over partner- looked messy as everyone had different arms,
should be in union. To improve we need to make everything clear in the future when doing
something uniform
 Spacing after roll call, Amy cutting in front with no room until filtering in. managed to
work round it, but from now on making sure everyone is using their own personal space to
dance in, keeping formations neat and tight.

Costume
Our costume for hairspray was individual in
colour with a rough guide for it to be a skater
skirt or dress with a coloured top and jazz
shoes. I wore a yellow cropped top with a black
skater skirt, beige jazz shoes and hair in a
high ponytail. My decision of a yellow top
was to reflect the happy and upbeat mood, as
the skater skirt swishes with you. Mainly
the costume reflected the 1960’s era of
hairspray, which set the mood/context of the
performance. Hair in slick high ponytails
also contributed to this, but also followed the
style of the films/musical’s portrayal
visually. Our jazz shoes added style, helping
us turn and keep light on our toes. The
general feeling as a character in a costume helped my performance a lot. This was my costume.....

Audience Response
The audience responding with a strong clap and big whoops showed they enjoyed our
performance

Final performance photos & video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXWj6fMrjY4&feature=youtu.be