The Tony award-winning Broadway musical “Hairspray” comes to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center this week. The current national tour celebrates the show’s 20-year history and stars Belmont University graduate Caroline Eiseman in the role of Tracy Turnblad, a teenager in the ’60s who’s determined to change the world and end prejudice.
Eiseman talked with WPLN News about the production.
LaTonya Turner: Thanks so much, Caroline, for speaking with me today — and welcome back to Nashville!
Caroline Eiseman: Thanks for having me. I’m so, so excited to be back.
Turner: I learned a long time ago that there’s always a Nashville connection. So, tell us your Nashville connection.
Eiseman: I went to Belmont University and got my BFA in musical theater. So I lived in Nashville for four years. And I very much say that Nashville is my second home, so it’s going to be such a sweet week. I’m so excited to bring “Hairspray” to TPAC!
Turner: “Hairspray” is a big show — lots of dancing, high energy, colorful, huge costumes. Tell me about this particular production.
Eiseman: This tour was launched for the 20th anniversary of “Hairspray” opening on Broadway, and we are still performing the original blocking by Jack O’Brien, choreography by Jerry Mitchell. And we have kept that true intention, you know? Time is going to change things. It’s been 20 years and many, many iterations of “Hairspray” have happened, but we still have the same costumes, the same set and the same original intention behind the story.
Turner: And tell us about the character of Tracy Turnblad.
Eiseman: Tracy is fun and light and laughter and acceptance wrapped up into a bright, dancing little package that I love to spend time with. She doesn’t look like her peers, and she faces a little bit of backlash for that. And she also doesn’t really understand why she and the people around her can’t dance together on TV or at school because of the way they all look. And so, you know, “Hairspray” is her journey and, also, the people around her, their journey to love and acceptance through dance.
Jeremy Daniel “Good Morning, Baltimore” – Caroline Eiseman as Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray”
Tracy is notoriously a character who’s curvy, in a different body, around girls who are not. And I’ve had the opportunity to meet people who look like me, who say, “Thank you for telling my story on stage.” And it’s also people of color, their story being told on stage too. And I think being able to bring that around the country is another magical thing.
Turner: Are there favorite numbers or moments in the show for you?
Eisman: Right now, one of my favorites is “Welcome to the 60s,” which I think very much wraps up a lot of the story and how it’s supposed to feel. But another one of my favorites is “I Know Where I’ve Been.” I don’t sing in it. I’m on stage, but I don’t open my mouth once. I get to watch the show, and I get to see the incredible talent that’s on stage with me and how they are giving this story to everybody every night. I love it!
Turner: That song is beautiful and is probably one of the more serious moments in the show and reflective of the times. But I’m curious if you can explain how this show is relevant and relatable still.
Jeremy Daniel “I Know Where I’ve Been” – (center) Deidre Lang as Motormouth Maybelle and the company of “Hairspray.”
Eiseman: “Hairspray” is the perfect example of art that transcends time. We are telling a story based on a movie that was written in the ’80s, based on a story written in the ’60s. It became a musical in 2002, and now in 2024, we’re telling it! I really am so inspired by the way that “Hairspray” continues to be relevant and needed to this day. We have so many things going on in our world, and we’ve made progress, but unfortunately not enough. Being able to share these stories across America and Canada, in places where people have different points of view, and drilling home that feeling of loving your neighbor, accepting your neighbor. Why does the way we look have to make us different?
Turner: Is there anything you want to say about the experience of training and learning about theater here at Belmont?
Eiseman: There are programs that focus on people as performers, and there are programs that focus on people as humans. I will say the greatest thing I’ve learned is: I’m telling this story about a larger-than-life girl, but at her core, she is human. And I can’t play Tracy well if I am not Caroline to the best of my ability. I think Belmont gave me that. It gave me the power to believe in myself as a human, all the while training me incredibly.
Turner: One other thing: What would you like to say to Nashville and maybe some of your friends and former colleagues here about the show?
Eiseman: Thank you for cheering me on and lifting me up! I can’t wait to hug you and see you and sing with you and dance with you in Nashville! And I’m so honored and thrilled and just have so much pride in my heart that we get to bring “Hairspray” here.
“Hairspray” is at TPAC through Sunday, June 16. For details go to TPAC.org.
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