Welcome to the '60s: Canton native plays 2 roles in 'Hairspray' tour coming to Cleveland
Canton native Leiah Lewis is enjoying the traveling life in her first national tour — the fun-loving, subversive musical "Hairspray," which will hit the Playhouse Square stage for eight performances Dec. 5-10.
"It's very fast paced. You don't really have time to stop and think about it, which I prefer because it leaves less room to get anxious about anything," Lewis, speaking by phone Nov. 15 from Ottawa, Ontario, said of life on the road as a performer.
She plays teenager Pearl as well as a glamorous Dynamite singer in "Hairspray" and also serves as an understudy for the inspiring Motormouth Maybelle character.
Lewis, 24, was speaking from her Airbnb the morning after the tour's official opening in Ottawa. The cast for the North American tour, most of which is new, had previously done 42 pre-tour shows for a month at Fort Myers, Fla., dinner theater in September and October. Next, they re-teched the show on a bigger stage in Green Bay, Wis., and did a preview there before flying to Canada for the opener.
"It did help performing in Florida, kind of getting acclimated with the show, being able to choose your story and choose your choices and get to mold together with the cast and kind of create that bond before we moved to a bigger stage," Lewis said.
More: Stark County native sees Edna role in ‘Hairspray’ as ‘greatest gift’
Leiah Lewis is a GlenOak graduate
The GlenOak High School graduate grew up doing competitive cheerleading with Ohio Intensity Elite as well as gymnastics and track and field. She didn't become heavily involved in musical theater until after high school graduation.
"Having the background in cheerleading and gymnastics really did help me pick up on the movement quality of it all (for musical theater dance)," Lewis said.
Rockette dreams fulfilled: Hard work, perseverance pay off for Akron native, new Rockette Abby Minear
The daughter of Nate Lewis and Brandi Sharpe of Canton, Lewis comes from a musical family, including her father, who's a member of the gospel band Red Hands. Lewis, in fact, remembers recording indie pop songs she'd created in his studio when she was just 10.
Her whole family remains in the Canton area, including aunts and uncles who are also musicians. All of them will come see her perform in "Hairspray" in Cleveland.
Lewis went to New York at age 18 to study musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), returning to Canton to do musicals and concerts at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield before moving to Columbus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Hairspray' on the high seas
Lewis has played Pearl and a Dynamite before: Last year she performed in "Hairspray" on Royal Caribbean. The cruise ship production was a shortened version of the hit musical.
"I prefer the touring version just because it's the original Broadway choreography and some of the original creatives (from Broadway)," Lewis said. "You can tell there's a lot of heart in this version of the show."
The latest tour is led by original "Hairspray" director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell.
In this story, irrepressible, chubby teen Tracy (Carolyn Eiseman) wants to change the world by racially integrating Baltimore's most popular TV show, "The Corny Collins Show." She paves the way for change along the way for her agoraphobic mother Edna (Greg Kalafatas) and makes new friends, including Seaweed (Josiah Rogers of Cleveland) and Motormouth Maybelle, played by Deidre Lang. Broadway actress Lang originally was a Dynamite in the first national tour of "Hairspray."
The musical, based on the film by John Waters, premiered on Broadway in 2003. Set in the racially volatile 1960s, the musical satirizes both racism and lookism.
'Tis the season: From 'Nutcracker' to 'Rudolph,' Northeast Ohio has holiday shows covered
How Leiah Lewis landed 'Hairspray' roles
Lewis was living in Columbus when she sent in her video audition for "Hairspray." After being asked to come for an in-person audition, she drove to New York. Following another two days of callbacks, Lewis was offered the roles of Pearl and a Dynamite.
Switching between the two roles, the actress wears costumes including two record shop kid outfits and two Dynamite dresses, including the Dynamite trio's iconic red dress.
"When you're in that Dynamite dress, there's just a different air that you hold about yourself. And so in the red dress and the gloves and the sparkly shoes and the red lipstick, it kind of helps you embody that character of what the Dynamites are supposed to be," Lewis said.
In their seminal number, "Welcome to the '60s," the Dynamites are welcoming Edna into the glitz, glamour and new way of living in the world of the '60s.
As teen Pearl, Lewis is portrays one of the African-American kids who's taken under R&B record producer Motormouth Maybelle's wing in Baltimore.
"We're just kind of living this life of like, just grooving and going with the flow while also being enthusiastic about the future and having a youthfulness about ourselves while also pushing forward for change," she said of Motormouth's group of record store kids from Patterson Park High School.
Leiah Lewis manifested 'Hairspray' at young age
When Lewis was 8, she watched her first musical on a DVD she checked out of the library. That musical was "Hairspray" and she watched it every day for three months straight.
"I was a really big fan of the new girl in town and 'Welcome to the '60s' and anything that was involving Zac Efron," she said.
That DVD was her introduction to the world of musical theater.
"Now, since 2022, it ("Hairspray") has been a part of my life for almost two years straight," she said. "I guess you could say I manifested it by watching it that many times as a child."
The show's message of unity is all about change, the actress said.
"I think that the main message of this show is about change, not only for Tracy and lookism and all of those things, but for people of color and being able to come together as one," Lewis said. "I like to tell the story of the show through the movement quality. You see in the beginning, the (white) 'Nicest Kids' are very uptight and they dance very straight. And then the (Black) Motormouth company, we dance very low. And then in the finale, in 'You Can't Stop the Beat,' when we all come together and combine all the different dance styles together, it really shows how we are molding into one."
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
Musical: "Hairspray"
Where: Connor Palace, Playhouse Square, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland
When: Opens Dec. 5, continuing through Dec. 10; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Onstage: Starring Greg Kalafats, Caroline Eisemann, Deidre Lang, Josiah Rogers, Skyler Shields, Ralph Prentice Daniel, Andrew Scoggin, Caroline Portner, Sarah Hayes, Scarlett Jacques, Kaila Symone Crowder, Micah Sauvageau, Emmanuelle Zeesman
Cost: $20-$105
Information:playhousesquare.org or 216-241-6000
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Canton native Leiah Lewis plays 2 roles in 'Hairspray' tour
