Hairspray Synopsis

Act One

It is 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland. As the alarm clock rings, and we see a plus-sized teen waking up for school, we are introduced to Tracy Turnblad. This fun-loving, somewhat oversized young woman reflects on how she loves her city and reveals to us her dreams of becoming a star of song and dance (“Good Morning Baltimore). She sings all the way to school as she introduces us to her hometown, Baltimore.

After school, we see Tracy and her best friend, Penny Pingleton, rushing home l in order to catch their favorite show on television. The Corny Collins Show features teenagers like Tracy and Penny teaching and performing popular 60s dance moves (“The Nicest Kids in Town”). As Tracy and Penny watch, Tracy’s mother, Edna,irons the neighbor’s laundry to make extra money. When Penny’s mother arrives to pick up her laundry, she objects to her daughter watching ”‘colored music” performed on television.

The action then shifts from Tracy’s television show, through the TV, to the set of _The Corny Collins Show _being broadcast, The cast has just gone on commercial break, and we see the heartthrob of the show, Link Larkin, offer his Council Member ring to Amber, the most popular girl in her school and on the show. Of course, Amber also happens to be the daughter of Velma Von Tussle, the show’s producer.

When the show returns from its commercial break, we return to Tracy’s living room. Tracy is devastated to see Amber wearing Link’s ring. Corny announces that they are going to have an upcoming live special where talent scouts will be on-hand and they will be crowning a Miss Teenage Hairspray. They will also be auditioning for a new female dancer, which is Tracy’s dream come true. Tracy begs her mother to let her audition, but Edna is concerned that Tracy will be ridiculed for her weight. When Tracy’s father returns home from work, however, he encourages his daughter to follow his dream. Tracy continues to argue with her mother, as Penny and her mother appear on a second part of the stage, and Amber and her mother appear on a third piece of the stage. All three girls are seen arguing with their mothers (“I’m a Big Girl Now”).

Flouting Her mother’s wishes, Tracy skips school to go audition, towing Penny along for moral support. Once there, Tracy literally bumps into Link, and the collision carries her into a dream sequence in which she imagines marrying Link (“I Can Hear the Bells”). She is snapped out of it when she is called to audition. Velma rejects Tracy due to her weight, and when Tracy speaks in favor of racial integration, Velma kicks humiliates her and kicks her out of the studio (“Miss Baltimore Crabs”).

The next day, Tracy is sent to detention after her hair is, yet again, teased so high that it blocks other students from seeing the blackboard. In detention, she makes friends with the African-American students there, in particular, Seaweed Stubbs, who teaches her some dance moves. At the school’s Sophomore Hop, where Corny Collins is the guest DJ (“The Madison”), Tracy tries out her new dance moves and impresses Corny and Link.

The next day on The Corny Collins Show, Corny introduces Tracy as their newest cast member (“The Nicest Kids in Town-Reprise”). Corny interviews Tracy and she voices her support for racial integration, which mortifies Velma. To make things worse, Amber gets upset that Tracy is getting more attention than her, and Corny has Link sing a song to Tracy (“It Takes Two”), and Tracy and Link kiss at the end of the song.

At the end of the show, Velma and Mr. Spritzer, a representative of show sponsor Ultra Clutch Hairspray, take Corny aside and voice their objections to his casting Tracy in the show. Mr. Spritzer even goes so far as to call her “that chubby communist.” Corny retorts that Tracy is just the first in a whole line of changes he intends to make on the show, implying that he wishes to integrate. He threatens to take his show to another network if Velma and Mr. Spritzer continue to object. Velma, afraid to lose Corny, pacifies the situation, but when Corny leaves, she resolves to ruin Tracy (“Velma’s Revenge”).

Meanwhile, back at the Turnblad apartment, Edna is answering phone call after phone call from Tracy’s fans. When Tracy gets a call from a plus-sized clothing boutique, called Mr. Pinky’s, asking her to be the face of their brand, Tracy asks Edna to be her agent and come with her for negotiations. Edna is scared at first, revealing that she is a hermit and hasn’t even left the apartment for years, but eventually Tracy convinces her. Mother and daughter set off for Mr. Pinky’s , where they undergo complete makeovers (“Welcome to the 60s”).

Back at school the next day, Tracy is quickly becoming the most popular girl at school. Formerly beloved Amber Von Tussle is dismayed. Desperate, Amber begins to spread rumors about Tracy, and when the students gather for a dodgeball game, things turn violent. An all out dodgeball war culminates in Amber hitting Tracy in the head with a dodgeball, rendering her unconscious. Link yells at Amber and rushes to help Tracy, who awakens to the sound of Link’s voice. A love connection becomes palpable between Tracy and Link, and their budding relationship begins. Seaweed and Penny also run to Tracy’s aid, and upon meeting, instantly fall in love. Seaweed invites Tracy, Penny and Link to a party at his mother’s record shop, but Link is concerned that white people might not be welcome in Seaweed’s neighborhood. Seaweed reassures them that they’ll be fine (“Run and Tell That”).

Seaweed, Penny, Tracy and Link head over to the record shop, which is owned and operated by Seaweed’s mother, Motormouth Maybelle. Seaweed introduces them to his sister, Little Inez, who auditioned to be a dancer on The Corny Collins Show, but was rejected. Motormouth Maybelle makes a grand entrance, almost immediately followed by Amber. She has followed Link to the record shop. Velma then enters, having followed Amber. Edna and Wilbur are right on their heels, , explaining that they have just been in the neighborhood. Amber and Velma try to persuade Link to leave, but storm out when he refuses to do so, explaining that he has made friends with the African-American students and wants to stay with Tracy.

After the ordeal with Amber and Velma, Tracy hatches a plan to racially integrate the show, which will begin with a protest outside the TV station where the Corny Collins Show is filmed. Motormouth is ecstatic, and jumps right on board. Link decides not to participate because he is afraid to risk everything he’s worked for. He leaves, and Tracy is crushed. Edna loves the idea of racial integration, but is too afraid to participate because she doesn’t want to be seen on television at her current weight. Motormouth, being a full figured woman herself, convinces Edna that she needs to be proud of every part of her (“Big, Blonde and Beautiful”).

The protest has begun outside the studio and is disrupted by the police, who were responding to a call from Velma. As everyone is carried off to jail, Link shows up and apologizes to Tracy committing his full support to her integration plan.

Act Two

Every single woman (except Penny’s mother Prudy) is in a prison cell, having been arrested after the protest (“The Big Dollhouse”). Velma and Amber are soon let out due to Velma’’s political connections. Wilbur shows up and tells them that he mortgaged the joke shop he owns in order to post bail for everyone. Velma, however, has somehow manipulated the system so that Tracy is not allowed to leave the jail. She remains in the jail cell, alone (“Baltimore-Reprise”).

Crushed and anxious, Wilbur and Edna return home without Tracy, and receive a call from Mr. Pinky firing Tracy from her position as their spokesperson, since she has now been sullied by scandal. Edna is defeated, and remembers her own failure to realize her dream of being a dress maker. Wilbur lifts her up by sharing how much he loves her no matter what (“You’re Timeless to Me”).

Meanwhile, Link sneaks into the jail to find Tracy and confesses his love for her. He has taken his Council Ring back from Amber, and gives it to Tracy, who is swooning with love. Meanwhile, Seaweed rescues Penny, who has been tied to her bed as a punishment for going to jail without permission. He reveals his love for Penny and the two couples sing (“Without Love”).

Link helps Tracy escape from her jail cell, and he and Tracy meet Seaweed and Penny back at Motormouth’s record shop. The news of Tracy’s escape is now being broadcast all over the news, and everyone in the record shop decides that it is probably best to give up the fight to integrate the show. Just as they are about to give up, Motormouth jumps in and convinces them that they have to keep fighting for what is right, explaining how hard she has had to fight for equal rights as an African-American, and how the struggle is not yet over (“I Know Where I’ve Been”).

Time has passed and it is now the day of the live prime-time special on The Corny Collins Show (“It’s Hairspray”). During the commercial break, Wilbur (disguised as a security guard) wheels a giant bottle of hairspray onto the set. Velma discovers him, but Seaweed and Motormouth have dressed as security guards and when Velma orders them to get rid of him, they pretend to comply and then help him remain on set. Even though Tracy is missing, Corny reports that she and Amber are neck-in-neck in the Miss Teenage Hairspray voting so far. Amber performs a dance that she dedicates to Tracy (“Cooties”). Just as Amber is about to take the crown, Tracy storms onto the set followed by Link, Penny, Seaweed, Little Inez, and company, performing a show-stopping number (“You Can’t Stop the Beat-Part 1”). The votes come pouring in, and Tracy wins the competition by a landslide, earning the title, “Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962.”Tracy announces that The Corny Collins Show is now officially integrated, and Mr. Spritzer comes in with the news that the audience is thrilled with the new show, the governor has pardoned Tracy, and that Velma is to serve as vice president of a new line of hair products for women of color! Wilbur opens the giant hairspray can, and Edna walks out dressed to the nines and more confident than ever before, and they all sing and dance in celebration of Baltimore’s bright new future. (“You Can’t Stop the Beat-Part 2).

View Images From the 2009 Broadway Hairspray Musical