Hairspray opens the Delray Beach Playhouse's 2026 to 2027 main stage season on Friday, Nov. 20, and two of its Sunday matinees are already gone. As of Oct. 17, the Playhouse's own box office shows the 2 p.m. performances on Sunday, Nov. 22, and Sunday, Dec. 13, as sold out, more than a month before opening night.

Several other afternoon shows are close behind. The ticketing page showed two seats left for the Saturday, Nov. 21, matinee, three for Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m., and two for Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. Evening performances have more room, with more than 100 seats still listed for Friday, Nov. 27, Saturday, Nov. 28, Friday, Dec. 11, and Saturday, Dec. 12.

The show

Hairspray is the stage musical built on John Waters' 1988 film for New Line Cinema. The book is by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, the music by Marc Shaiman, and the lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. The Playhouse notes that the Broadway production was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won eight, including best musical, book, score and direction, and that it also took a Grammy Award for its cast album, 10 Drama Desk Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards in London.

The story is set in Baltimore in 1962. Tracy Turnblad, a plus-size teenager, wants one thing: a spot dancing on a local television program called the Corny Collins Show. She gets it, becomes a star almost overnight, and uses her new platform to take on the reigning teen queen, win over the heartthrob Link Larkin, and push the station to integrate the show. The Playhouse's program notes say Waters modeled the TV show on a real Baltimore program, the Buddy Deane Show, and on the racial events surrounding it. The theater bills the production as a family musical.

Dates, times and tickets

The run lasts four weekends, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 13, with no weekday performances. The pattern each weekend is the same:

  • Fridays at 7:30 p.m.: Nov. 20, Nov. 27, Dec. 4 and Dec. 11
  • Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.: Nov. 21, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12
  • Sundays at 2 p.m.: Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13

That puts three performances on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 27 to 29. Single tickets are $55, plus a $6 convenience fee per ticket on phone and internet orders. Performances are in the Playhouse auditorium. The box office lists a no refunds and no exchanges policy, so check the date before you buy.

The rest of the season

Hairspray is the first of four main stage productions this season. The Playhouse's box office lists the other three:

  • Groundhog Day, Jan. 29 to Feb. 21, 2027, $45 plus the $6 fee
  • Boynton Beach Club, March 19 to April 11, 2027, $55 plus the $6 fee
  • The Shawshank Redemption, May 14 to 30, 2027, $45 plus the $6 fee

For residents who plan to see more than one, the theater sells a Main Stage Series Flex package that covers all four productions and lets the buyer choose dates for each, subject to seat availability. Alongside the plays, the Playhouse runs a Best of Broadway cabaret series this season, with titles including Broadway's Bad Boys, Liberace and Liza, The Making of a Phantom, 40 Years on Broadway, Broadway Jukebox and Broadway's Bashert, sold in pick-three and pick-six bundles.

About the Playhouse

The Delray Beach Playhouse is a nonprofit community theater at 950 NW Ninth St., inside Lake Ida East Park on the shore of Lake Ida. Its own history page traces a children's theater program to 1997, which it describes as roughly 50 years into the Playhouse's life, and a 4,000-square-foot performance annex added in 2005 for classes and youth shows. Today its calendar mixes plays and musicals with cabaret, tribute concerts, comedy and lunchtime matinees.

How to get seats

Tickets are sold through the Playhouse's online box office, which shows live seat counts for every Hairspray performance, or by phone at 561-272-1281, extension 5. The box office is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and opens one hour before each show. Questions can also go to [email protected].

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