OREM — It’s impossible to not have fun with “Hairspray.” The jubilant musical confection is about as indestructible a stage hit as its shellacked bouffant hairdos. But what wins over Hale Theater Orem audiences are the performances by the teen actors. They are just as enamored of their characters as the fictional teens are with Corny Collins’ TV show.

As to be expected with young performers, some of the voices lack the powerhouse wallop the songs require and their comedic timing doesn’t always dazzle. Director Neal C. Johnson leans on the enthusiasm of the cast to overcome these challenges. Johnson knows his directorial way around the Hale’s in-the-round, tight-stage issues, and the ensemble dazzles in Jenny Giauque-Tingey’s quick-paced choreography.

Following the Hale tradition, nearly each of the roles is double-cast. On opening night, Stephanie Southerland is full of spunky charm as the rotund Tracy Turnblad. Her conviction to the role makes our proud heroine not just a stock character but also a real teenage girl. Southerland is as buoyant as a balloon in her “I Can Hear the Bells” solo. Dalton Blaine’s Link Larkin is attractive and goodhearted as befits the heartthrob crooner of Tracy’s dreams.

Adorkable seems to have been coined specifically for the Penny Pingleton character, and Misha Jenkins plays Tracy’s pal with endearing gangly charm. As Seaweed J. Stubbs, who sashays his way into Penny’s heart to make her a checkerboard chick, Elijah Thomas has the right cool-sweet blend. Emily Castleton and DeLaney Westfall are duly shrill as the TV show’s scheming, racist producer and her bratty daughter. Jared Lynton is the cardboard Corny Collins.

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The weak spot is Paul Hill, in fat-suited drag as Tracy’s mother. The ironing board-tethered Edna should be the emotional core of “Hairspray.” Hill has the foghorn voice but his desert-dry performance lacks warmth. As Edna’s ever-devoted jokester husband Wilbur, Lon Keith fizzles. Edna and Wilbur's “Timeless to Me” duet should be a scene-stealer but is thankfully quickly forgotten.

There are two roof-raising musical sequences. As host of the once-a-month Negro Day, Teierra Jean blasts out Motormouth Maybelle’s gospel-tinged “I Know Where I’ve Been” ballad. And during the mother-daughter makeovers at Mr. Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway, the three Dynamites (Rebecca Roberts, Josephine Scere Dinnell, Emily Ojuka Call) invigorate “Welcome to the ’60s” in a tribute to the Motown era’s girl groups.

“Hairspray” is a giddy treat that is full of dance-till-you-drop exuberance, and this production shows that Tracy Turnblad optimism will never go out of style.

Blair Howell is a freelance editor and writer.

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