Curtain set to rise on PRSS presentation of Hairspray

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One of the most anticipated items on the Lester Centre for the Arts schedule is almost here, as the always entertaining winter production from Prince Rupert Secondary School is set to take to the stage.

After almost three months of rehearsals, set construction and music co-ordination, PRSS is about to take Prince Rupert residents back in time to the era of integration in Baltimore Maryland of 1962.

A view of changing times as  seen through the prism of Hairspray, best known from the John Waters film  of 1988, which was the first of the two films made off the premise, which also spawned a successful run on Broadway and beyond

The three night run promises to provide humour, social awareness and musical productions that will prove to test the acting and musical skills of the student body at the high school.

Put on with the help of volunteer crew members from the school, the annual performance from PRSS is considered one of the must see events in the city's theatre community, the many hours and hard work traditionally paying off in a remarkable performance that makes for an enjoyable evening of entertainment.

This year's musical has its opening night this Thursday December 2nd and continues its three performance run through until Saturday night, with the curtain going up at 7:30 each evening, tickets are available at the Lester Centre box office and at Cooks Jewellers.

When the final curtain call is finished on Saturday evening it will mark the end of an era for the PRSS theatre program. With the two high schools merging in September this will be the last of the theatre departments productions under the PRSS banner, a long running success story for School District 52.

Over the years, the annual PRSS production has set a standard for student involvement and community entertainment, a tradition that many in the community hopes will continue when the two schools become one in 2011.

Some background on Hairspray and its cinematic and theatrical productions can be found below:

Hairspray 1988
Hairspray 2007
Hairspray on Tour

Update:

The Northern View featured this preview of the PRSS production, posted to their website on November 30.

CFTK TV featured this preview of the presentation on their evening news for Wednesday (view video here)