JC
Backstage interviews Darlene Love about her latest stint as Motormouth Maybelle in the Broadway show, Hairspray. She talks a bit about the racial/interracial themes of the musical and relates it back to her own life.

Inspired by the campy John Waters film, “Hairspray” recounts the jolly and occasionally anguished antics of teenagers in 1962 Baltimore who are desperately competing to perform on a TV dance program. There are serious themes here, including interracial romance and the exclusion of blacks from the show. Motormouth, an older black woman who has been around the block a few times, serves as the catalyst, urging the kids to fight for what they believe is right. She is one feisty lady with a big heart.

Although Love was not willing to gain 50 pounds to play Motormouth — the fat suit was a compromise — she says she was born for the role. Indeed, many of the musical’s themes have personal application, from the social stigma of interracial dating to the roadblocks faced by African Americans on television.

“In 1964, when my group the Blossoms performed on the TV show ‘Shindig,’ we were among the first,” she recollects. “In those days they didn’t want blacks on a national television program, especially as regulars. I also dated a white man, Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers. I know what it means to have an interracial relationship in an era of segregation. So when I sing ‘I Know Where I’ve Been,’ I bring myself to that song, to the role. It’s hard to keep my emotions under control. I can’t sing and cry at the same time.”