The Broadway hit with big hair, big girls and even bigger laughs comes to Jersey Shore.

July 2, 2009 - PRLog -- Hairspray - it’s 1962—the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore’s Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion—to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, The Corny Collins Show and overnight is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program’s reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her ‘do? Only in Hairspray! Welcome to the '60s!

Hairspray became an immediate Broadway smash when it premiered at the Neil Simon Theatre in the summer of 2002. After winning eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, its place in Broadway history was confirmed. To quote one of the show's many catchy songs, "you can't stop the beat" of this hair-hopping hit!

Directed and choreographed by Karen Babcock who has performed on Broadway and around the world with such shows as Chess, A Chorus Line, Joseph and Cats.
As a natural progression from performing professionally, Karen now directs, choreographs and teaches. Each July for the past six years, she’s directed/choreographed a kids/teens showcase performed in NYC. In Graz, Austria, she has taught a musical theatre workshop for the past nine summers. Most recently, Karen directed and choreographed Rent in Essen, Germany (in German). Karen has put together CATS
on three different occasions—at the Surflight Theatre, Other directing/choreographing credits include:
Annie Get Your Gun, Me And My Girl, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Grease and All Shook Up (Surflight Theatre); Anything Goes (Trump Plaza—Atlantic City, NJ—choreographer);  with Musical Direction by Jeremy Randall (Nat’l Tours of HAIRSPRAY and RENT).

Starring Michael McAssey as Edna, who made his Surflight acting debut in A Few Good Men last fall and is happy to be back, .Michael has appeared on Broadway in Late Nite Comic (featured in the new Brian Gari book, “We Bombed In New London”), Off-Bway in A Hard Time To Be Single and In Gay Company, and tours of A Chorus Line, Godspell.  Soap fans may remember Michael as blind pianist-singer George Baldwin on CBS-TV’s GUIDING LIGHT. He appeared with Barbara Cook and Patti LuPone in Paris and toured with Ms. LuPone in her nightclub act, The Argentina Turner Revue.   Named by Cabaret
Scenes Magazine as one of “Cabaret’s Premier Acts,” Michael appears regularly in clubs in L.A., N.Y., Chicago and Mykonos and is a winner and 3-time nominee of New York’s MAC  AWARD for Outstanding Male Vocalist.

Amanda Snarski as Tracy, who understudied the role at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Alyssa Malgeri (Penny - Nat’l Tour)  as Penny Pingleton, David Brent Howard (Nat’l Tour of THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL) as Wilbur, Andrew Foote (Nat’l Tours of RAGTIME, ANNIE and LES MISERABLES) as Corny Collins, Karyn McNay (Ulla in THE PRODUCERS on tour and at Westchester Broadway) as Velma Von Tussel.  The company includes Sydni Beaudoin, Jeffry Foote, Nadia Vynnytsky, Ryan Steer  Danielle Westhead ,  Jarvis B. Manning, Jr., Allison Mickelson

For more information go to: http://www.surflight.org,  http://www.allisonmickelson.com

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The only professional theatre in ocean County, Surflight has been producing "Broadway at the Beach" since 1950. Full scale productions of musicals and plays run from April through December.