“Good Morning, Waterford”:
O’Neill Theater Center Hosts Special Event
At Broadway’s Smash-Hit, HAIRSPRAY

Waterford, CT, September 30, 2002 – Haven’t seen the smash hit musical HAIRSPRAY yet? Well, you don’t have to Ïtwist and shoutÓ to get good seats when the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center hosts a New York reception and performance for the 3 p.m. matinee of the musical comedy sensation on Sunday, November 10.

Theatergoers joining the O’Neill party will join members of the HAIRSPRAY team for a pre-show reception at the restaurant Da Tommasso, beginning at 1 p.m., and enjoy the hilarious and heartfelt show from the best seats in the Neil Simon Theater at 3 p.m..

Describing the opportunity, Howard Sherman, executive director of the O’Neill, said, ÏA year ago we were able to offer O’Neill supporters an unprecedented opportunity to see THE PRODUCERS; now we continue that tradition with HAIRSPRAY. Thanks to the involvement of our board chairman, Tom Viertel, in these two hugely popular shows, we’re able to share Broadway’s newest and biggest hits with our supporters at a time when people are standing in line in New York hoping to get in.Ó

In 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 is based upon the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, with a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. HAIRSPRAY is directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.

Tickets are $250 per person for the show and the reception, with coach transportation to and from The O’Neill provided for southeastern Connecticut patrons; the price includes a $100 tax-deductible gift to the O’Neill Theater Center. Seating is limited, tickets may be reserved with a major credit card by calling The O’Neill’s development office at (860) 443-5378 ext. 213.

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 and based in Waterford CT, is dedicated to the advancement of new work for the theater and creates and operates programs which complement that goal. These include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute, a college-accredited training program for theater artists.