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Indonesian take on cult classic ‘Hairspray’ hits but also misses
Drag up your life: TEMAN's rendition of Hairspray retains all elements of the original production, including the cross-dressing role of Edna Turnblad, portrayed by Malaysian actor Peter Ong
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rag up your life: TEMAN's rendition of Hairspray retains all elements of the original production, including the cross-dressing role of Edna Turnblad, portrayed by Malaysian actor Peter Ong.
Hairspray is one of those things you’ll either love or hate. It is a high camp, over-the-top commentary of race relations and beauty standards in mid-20th century America with lavish musical numbers, after all.
Of course, originating from the mind of John Waters might have helped.
Since its origins as Waters’ 1988 film, Hairspray has been adapted into several formats throughout the years, beginning with an award-winning Broadway adaptation in 2002 and a silver screen reboot in 2007 starring John Travolta in drag.
Most recently, a live broadcast of the production was aired by NBC in 2016, featuring names like Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson and Harvey Fierstein.
Adding to that list was a recent Indonesian production licensed by theatrical licensing agency Music Theatre International, bringing in a nearly full Indonesian cast and crew.
Staged at Ciputra Artpreneur from Dec. 21-22, 2019, Hairspray was performed by Jakarta-based TEMAN. The production remained faithful to the 2002 Broadway adaptation, bringing in American director-choreographer Brandon Bieber to helm the project.
The plot was also unchanged, set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, with period-appropriate views on race and beauty standards. “Pleasantly plump” teenager Tracy Turnblad (Venytha Yoshiantini) dreams of making it big by dancing in local TV program The Corny Collins Show, which she obsessively watches with her friend Penny Pingleton (Putri Indah Kamila) each day after school.
When host Corny Collins (Gusty Pratama) announces an upcoming live pageant crowning of Miss Teenage Hairspray, Tracy makes it her mission to make it into the special.
However, politically incorrect but period appropriate views still reign, most evident in the dastardly racist producer Velma Von Tussle (Lea Simanjuntak), who will do anything to get her daughter Amber (Andrea Miranda) the crown.
TEMAN’s production was as close as you could get to a Broadway production in Indonesia, with bombastic visuals and splendid choreography.
Each musical sequence was as campy and whimsical as it could be, which was refreshing to see when many other theatrical productions have been of the serious and broody variety as of late.
Also an unexpected but still very much welcome part of the production was the casting choice for Tracy’s mother Edna Turnblad. The original 1988 movie had drag queen Divine playing the role, as did the 2007 movie with Travolta.
In an increasingly hostile environment for gender nonconforming individuals, the decision to stay true to tradition was very much appreciated, casting Malaysian actor Peter Ong in the role.
Ong’s character was as central to the plot as Venytha’s and both connected with each other in a way that felt like a real mother-daughter relationship.
As much as it worked, though, the breakout star of the show was arguably someone else. It wasn’t the extravagant musical numbers, not Venytha’s showstopping jump-split in the finale number, and not teen heartthrob Link Larkin as played by actor and one-time boyband member Morgan Oey.
Rather, it was Tina Simanjuntak, who portrayed the bold African-American record shop owner “Motormouth” Maybelle.
Her number in the production, the soul and gospel-inspired ballad “I Know Where I’ve Been”, is perhaps the strongest and most emotional song in Hairspray, reflecting on the past and future in regard to the civil rights movement.
Tina’s vocals carried the song with such emotion that it might as well have been the highlight of the entire production. That the song’s context could be applied to a certain context here is a bonus, but Tina’s rendition certainly was one of the strongest sequences of the night.
Admittedly, it was rather awkward when the racial context of Hairspray was reduced to a mere characterization in the production. Seeing an all-Asian cast proclaim their blackness or whiteness was a surreal sight to behold, which was made extra uncomfortable when remembering the recent racist brouhaha surrounding Papuans.
Jokes and witty lines in the original dialogue also flat lined several times, perhaps due to the American-ness of the script. Certainly, not everyone could pick out details like Velma’s calculated promiscuity or Freudian racial slips.
Other issues cropped up even if you ignored the racial undertones, however. Technical difficulties plagued the audio at certain points during the press preview, making it hard to make out the dialogue. That’s to say nothing of the two-hour delay in the first place.
Hairspray was still an extravagant indulgence in campy fun, and TEMAN’s production was a faithful production that hit all the high notes despite stumbling in some aspects.
— Photos courtesy of the Ciputra Artpreneur
