plastic exploding inevitable.......

A week or so back I took a group of young actors , about 60- ranging in age from 6 to 14, to see a production of Hairspray. 60 kids and about 6 adults! Thespis bless them ,they  were a wonderful, respectful , and enthusiastic audience.

So enthusiastic, that they were mentioned in the Newsday review of the show. They received a rave. He also gave the show an excellent review.

The next morning, I met with the kids and we talked about the show and the performances. I will say that the kids perception of the show was positive, but they were far more critical in their estimation of the performances than the writer. ( He raved about the girl who played Tracy, the kids were a bit more "reserved"")

Bravo, young uns!

WE talked about performances and costumes and lighting and the set , etc.  Lots of great honest reactions. This lead to a discussion of the idea of acceptance that is the heart of the show. Race and gender and size. and the shallowness of conformity. As we spoke , I shared some stories of traveling with my family down in the deep south back in the 60's.  It is amazing to think that it my lifetime I witnessed ,plain as day, the remnants of the systematic racism and intolerance that were part of America for so long.

There is a wonderful article by Calvin Trillin in last weeks New Yorker magazine, about his tenure as a writer for Time magazine covering, among other subjects, The Freedom Rides of the early 60's. So much has changed in those 50 years.

As we continued , one of the kids brought up the fact that same sex marriage had been adopted in New York State. All the kids burst into applause and cheered. All of them, Here's something that their grandparents couldn't even have imagined, that a few short years ago had no chance of being adopted and these kids accept it as common sense.

The final song in Hairspray is a wonderful song called , "You Can't Stop The Beat" It's a joyous tribute to early 60's soul music that brings the house down.

And as one of the kids pointed out- It also proves that you can't stand in the way of change, of progress. You Can't stop The Beat.

smart kid (s)