Forming triumphantly in a crowd of over 800 people is the cast of 'Hairspray: The Arena Spectacular', and leading the pack among his fellow principle cast members is Barry Conrad, as Seaweed.
It's the story of Tracy Turnblad's long-winded dream of becoming a prime-time '60s princess, which graced screens for the first time in 1988 before hitting the live stage in 2002. Tracy auditions for her favourite music programme, 'The Corny Collins Show' and gets a part – despite doubts from the show's station manager Velma Von Tussle and daughter Amber.
Sent to detention for skipping class to audition, Tracy meets African-American student Seaweed there. She introduces her best friend Penny and they hit it off instantly, as Seaweed showcases his best moves and soaring vocals, professing “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” in his signature song 'Run & Tell That'.
Barry Conrad
Baltimore is rocked by Tracy's progressive yet then unheard of views about race mixing, as she proclaims “every day should be Negro Day” and begins to ruffle feathers in her part on the 'Corny Collins Show'.
“Being someone of colour myself, I think this show is all about being proud of who you are,” Barry says. “Whether you're overweight or thin, gay or straight, black or white... It's cool that this show is so feel good but also has that deeper meaning.”
Barry finishes a season of the show 'Violet' in March before heading straight into 'Hairspray' rehearsals. “My character [in 'Violet'] experiences the same thing as Seaweed: racism,” Barry says. “It's also set in the '60s, and because I'm from South Africa, there's that whole racism thing that my parents experienced as well, so I can draw upon it.”
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'Violet' and 'Hairspray' are the only two musical theatre shows Barry has ever done.
“I've studied film and TV acting but I've never really done musical theatre. Now that I kind of have the bug, I do like it.”
“I'm glad I got two [shows] in a row that I like, I have a busy few months ahead... Excited though.”
Barry is perhaps best known for his time on 'X-Factor Australia' in 2013, where he made it to week three of the live shows. “When I was younger I started doing background vocals for Stan Walker, Jessica Mauboy... Then from there I went to 'X-Factor' and that kind of put me from being in the background to the front... I'm living my dream, and I'm living what I love to do.”
Joining the principle cast of 'Hairspray' are over 800 ensemble performers between 9 and 21 years old, bringing the high school atmosphere to life and igniting the '60s in full technicolour.
“There are a lot of complex characters, as light as it is everyone has their own story within the show... I think everyone coming to see it will be able to relate to at least one person,” Barry assures. “They'll be like 'I'm that person' or 'cool, I can be who I am', I didn't realise the complexity of this show that much before.”
Seeing the full ensemble performing for the first time, Barry says he was blown away.
“I was standing up there watching them, and it was like a tsunami of kids doing all these canons,” he gushes. “It's so high energy and has such a good message about equality.
“Seeing those kids is like, man I used to be one of them, they're all so pumped... You just say hi to them and they go 'AHHHH!', they're just so excited about everything.”
The show stars: Lauren McKenna as Tracy Turnblad; Simon Burke as her mum, Edna; Christine Anu as Motormouth Maybelle; and Tim Campbell as Corny Collins, among many more. Each character has their own quirky personality and story, and the fight of good against evil – in this case the Turnblads versus the Von Tussles – comes to an end in the most satisfying way possible, but that's all the spoilers on offer.
“If you know nothing about the movie or the musical, you're going to come on an emotional rollercoaster,” Barry says. “You're going to learn things about other people, but also learn things about yourself.”
TOUR DATES
8-10 April – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre15-16 – Newcastle Entertainment Centre
14-15 October – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
