Eagan High School To Open 'Hairspray' on Dec. 10

The Eagan High School Performing Arts troupe opens its production of the Tony award-winning musical Hairspray on Dec. 10 at the Eagan auditorium.

Directed by retired drama teacher Dennis Swanson, the Eagan High School rendition of the groundbreaking musical is just as much singing and dancing as it is social commentary.

Set in Baltimore in 1962, Hairspray the musical is based on the 1988 John Waters film of the same name. The story's main character, Tracy Turnblad, is a plus-sized teen with dreams of dancing on the local TV dance program.

Turnblad musters the courage to audition for the show and, after being selected, embarks on a personal mission to integrate the exclusively-Caucasian cast.

The musical tackles issues of social and racial discrimination and celebrates an interracial relationship between two supporting characters. The performance also incorporates scores of witty dialogue laced with innuendo which was commonplace in the racially-divided Baltimore of the 1960s.

Eagan is the only high school in Minnesota to have acquired the rights to perform the cutting-edge musical and, in doing so, has set a precedent for both quality and quantity for high school performances.

"We have 18 African American cast members in the performance," said Swanson. "That's saying a lot for a school that is 89 percent Caucasian."

"The content of the show was what drew me to audition," said Robert Knapp, an Eagan senior who plays the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs in the production. "The anti-discrimination message is a really positive one."

Apart from the show's dramatic undertones, the current cast members underwent their own dramas just trying to become part of the performance. To fill just 70 roles, directors auditioned 183 students – a number never exceeded for an Eagan High School performance.

"The tryouts for this show were extremely rigorous," said Eagan senior Bailey Richardson, who plays the role of Tracy Turnblad. "Depending on the character, there were between two and three days of call-backs."

Although auditions were harsh, they signified only the beginning of the journey for the Eagan performers.

"These kids have been working very hard to make this a top-notch performance," said Swanson. "We've been practicing six days a week for six weeks. This is about as good as you're going to see for a high-school production."

In fact, the show has created such a buzz that Eagan has sold approximately 95 percent of its tickets to all six scheduled performances.

For both Knapp and Richardson, leading the cast in Hairspray represents lifelong goals of their own.

"This is all I've wanted to do since I was a little kid," said Knapp. "I definitely hope to make this my career."

"I've been doing this since I was 13-years-old," said Richardson. "My career goal is to become a teacher but performing will always be a part of my life."

Eagan High School will perform a senior citizen preview of Hairspray at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 9. It will also perform the play at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18, and there will be a matinee show at 2 p.m. on Dec. 12.