JANUARY 13 • 2022 | 43

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ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

T

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 teenag-
er 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 

Producer Orin Wolf brings Hairspray to 
the Fisher Theatre in Detroit.

An Optimistic Musical

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Orin Wolf

The ensemble dances to “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”

PHOTO BY CHRIS BENNION AND JEREMY DANIEL

