Friday, December 14, 2007

Hairspray‘s Nikki Blonsky to sing with Turtle Creek Chorale

By Arnold Wayne Jones of Dallas Voice

PLEASANTLY PLUMP: Nikki Blonsky was born to play Tracy Turnblad, the full-figured bundle of energy whose dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show.

Talk about being born to play a role. Nikki Blonsky, the zaftig powerhouse who delivered a star-making portrayal of Tracy Turnblad in the movie-musical adaptation of Hairspray, wasn’t even alive when John Waters’ original film came out in 1988. In fact, Blonsky popped into the world almost exactly nine months following the film’s release. Coincidence?

“That would have been amazing!” she squeals over the telephone. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask them when they get home.”

When they get home?

Despite starring in a film that grossed more than $100 million, does Blonsky, still live in her Long Island home with mom, dad and her 13-year-old brother, Joey? You betcha.

She may be a movie star. But like a lot of girls her age, she still spends time with her folks and walks her dog every night.

While just 19 years old — 19! — Blonsky, despite her assertions to the contrary, is not a typical teen. How many women her age have headlined their first solo concert with the Turtle Creek Chorale?

Things have happened fast for Blonsky. Acting in Hairspray was her first professional experience of any kind, and although she sang “Good Morning, Baltimore” at San Francisco’s gay Pride parade earlier this year, not only will Sunday mark her debut concert but it will also mark the first time Blonsky has ever performed with — or even seen — a gay men’s chorus.

Jonathan Palant, the new artistic director for the chorale, said seeking out Blonsky was part of a plan to find an artist “who would be fresh and new and fun and young and current. As soon as I began to test the waters about Nikki, people said ‘Omigosh! Yeah!’” he says. “It was clear she would be a hit in Dallas.”

Blonsky also couldn’t have been more thrilled by the invitation.

“I got a phone call from my agent saying the Turtle Creek Chorale was calling,” she recalls. “I happened to be with one of my gay friends at the time. And when I said ‘Turtle Creek Chorale,’ he almost went into convulsions — he was so excited. He is a fan.”

Being surrounded by gay men won’t be strange for her. All musicals are pretty gay, but Blonsky made her debut diving head first into the gayest gay musical in “gaystory.” (Yes, I intentionally misspelled “history:” It’s that gay.)

From director Adam Shankman to composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman to John Travolta in drag and Queen Latifah, there will probably be fewer gay people on the stage of the Meyerson Sunday than at the craft services table when the back-up dancers took their lunch break. And chief among the heroes for Blonsky is Waters himself.

“I adore John Waters!” she gushes. “I was taught at a young age to love everybody. I got into a high school theater group and there were several gay people in it. I just totally fell in love with them, and we became the best of friends. Some of the other kids would tease them, and even thought I’m just 4’10”, I would stand up for them. We’re all just trying to perform.”

The concert also made sense for Blonsky because she’s still trying to establish her musical bona fides. She realizes after just one movie, she’s closely associated with Broadway show tunes, “but I also love country and jazz. It’s very hard to label what I want to do,” she says.

Because she’s in the process of shopping around for record deals, it seemed to make sense to do a concert before making a CD “to see how the audience reacts,” Blonsky says. “Since it’s so close to Christmas, I’m going to sing my favorite Christmas carols, plus a compilation of songs that my grandmother raised me on and quite a surprising [number of] people won’t be expecting it. And I have to give my audience a little bit of the ‘Spray — they’re gonna want to hear it.”

Indeed they will. Blonsky got billed low on the marquee for Hairspray, but she got to sing most of the big numbers.

But she credits her co-stars with helping her carry the film.

“It was really amazing” working with Travolta, Christopher Walken and Michelle Pfeiffer, Blonsky says. “These huge A-list celebrities were all loving and down to earth. John and Chris, being from New York themselves, knew the musical bones I had in my body. And since we were playing a family, we did bond. I learned so much from them.”

Blonsky has already parlayed her Hairspray role into a supporting performance in an indie film with Cuba Gooding Jr. due out next summer and a starring part in a Lifetime movie, airing in January. But does she expect to find many more roles that call for a short, heavy teen girl who can belt out a song like Streisand? She’s definitely optimistic.

“I think there are roles out there if you make them yours,” she says. “You can only be typecast if you let yourself be typecast. People remember performances — not what you look like when you gave the performance. I believe there are parts out there for me.”

'SPRAY SPECIAL

An Evening with Nikki Blonsky and the Turtle Creek Chorale

Blonsky will perform holiday favorites, Broadway classics and select numbers from Hairspray. Also performing: 100 sixth graders from the Richardson All-District Elementary Choir.

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. 214-373-8000. $25-$60. TurtleCreek.org.

BLONSKY SNAGS GOLDEN GLOBE NOM

On Thursday, nominations were announced in 25 categories for the annual Golden Globes. Nikki Blonsky’s performance in Hairspray was named for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. She’s up against Amy Adams, Enchanted; Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd; Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose; and Ellen Page, Juno.

Hairspray was also nominated for Best Motion Picture — Musical Or Comedy, and the drag role of Edna Turnblad earned John Travolta a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

The 65th Annual Golden Globes will be presented Jan. 13 on NBC.

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas Voice, the community newspaper for gay & lesbian Dallas.

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Choir / Chorale

Comments