Hairspray

Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University (April 2015)

Directed by Ken Savage

Produced by James Sherwood

Lighting Design by Matt Lathrop

LED Video Wall Design by Stephen Hitchcock

Original Costume Designs by Asia Chiao and Juliet Charnas

This production of Hairspray sought to bridge the racial dialogues of the 60s Civil Rights Movement with the contemporary dialogues surrounding BlackLivesMatter, Ferguson, and the Civil Rights issues of 2015. With a cast of 39 performers including a dance ensemble of Stanford's best dancers, Hairspray was centered on a vision which explored how the television has dictated standards of beauty throughout time. Over 50 original 1960s costume designs were realized for this production. The centerpiece of Hairspray's design was the massive 20,000 light LED video wall configured as portals framing the action of the musical as would a television screen.

Hairspray broke box office records, selling over 6,000 tickets over

5-performances (including two sold out performances) in the Stanford's Broadway-sized 1600-seat Memorial Auditorium.

REVIEW: A high-octane Hairspray (Palo Alto Weekly - April 13, 2015)

"Director Ken Savage aims to highlight not only the important civil rights victories of the 1960s but also the racial disparities that still exist in American society 50 years later. While never heavy-handed, this directorial attention to the show's contemporary resonance... adds weight to what could otherwise be a fluffy, inconsequential Broadway romp."

"Ram's Head Theatrical Society, Stanford's oldest student-run theater group, has hit the triple-threat jackpot in casting its current production of Hairspray"