ARTS&LIFE THEATER
PHOTO BY CHRIS BENNION AND JEREMY DANIEL
An Optimistic Musical
The ensemble dances to “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”
Producer Orin Wolf brings Hairspray to the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.
T Orin Wolf
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
he producer who brought the last tour of Fiddler on the Roof to the Fisher Theatre — a production that had to be cut short because of COVID restrictions — is putting another popular musical, Hairspray, on the road. Orin Wolf, president of NETworks Presentations, believes the upbeat show, about a teenager wanting to appear on a TV dance program, offers an uplifting experience during pandemic times. “There’s something just inherently optimistic about the music and the story,” said Wolf, who has been to Michigan through work responsibilities and family ties having to do with his wife, attorney Shiri Bilik Wolf, growing up in Michigan, attending the University of Michigan and occasionally writing for the Detroit Jewish News. “Hairspray is not a naïve optimism; it’s an informed optimism because it was written about a continued on page 44 JANUARY 13 • 2022
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