By Ellie Howell ‘18

On Feb. 23-25, Heritage Hall Performing Arts staged the high-energy, colorful musical everyone knows and loves, Hairspray. I was honored to portray Tracy Turnblad, a lovable girl with a passion for performing who uses her fame to address the issue of segregation; after all, as Tracy declares, “it’s stupid we can’t all dance together.”

Set in 1960s Baltimore, Tracy finally lands a spot on the local teen dance show, thanks to the help of her friend, Seaweed Stubbs (Cooper Shelton ’20). The story follows Tracy as she rises to teen sensation status; gains a love interest, Link Larkin (Parker Allen ’18), and enemies, Amber Von Tussle (Georgia Davies ’18) and her mother, Velma (Lilly Schifferdecker ’19); and, eventually, brings racial integration to the show hosted by Corny Collins (Winston Scambler ’18).  

While the entire cast made being in the show fun, playing a leading lady alongside Georgia made it memorable. Friends since preschool, Georgia and I share a love of music and theatre. At the age of 10, Georgia and I portrayed siblings in Summerstock’s Annie Get Your Gun; it would be our first of many productions together.

In what would be our last high school winter musical, nothing could have been more fitting than bringing two of our favorite characters to life. I have fond memories of a young Georgia and I riding in the car reciting every word of “Nicest Kids in Town,” one of the show’s catchiest songs. We loved Hairspray when we were 8, we love it at 18, and we will love it when we are 80. Thank you to everyone who made this wonderful swan song possible!

With six stage productions a year – two musicals, two plays, and two revue-style show’s – Heritage Hall Performing Arts is alive and well, and I am thrilled to have been a part of this amazing program. Special thanks to the performing arts faculty for inspiring the passion for performing that keeps students auditioning and keeps audiences coming back for more. I’m going to miss you all!