Given all that Baltimore has been going through, we may need “Hairspray” more than ever. This feel-good musical, based on the 1988 John Waters film, manages to address the sobering issue of discrimination — racial, economic, social, you name it — and give it a swift kick with each infectious, dance-fueling song.

In 2013, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presented a sizzling concert version of “Hairspray” narrated by Waters. It's back, with extra holding power, providing a couple of welcome hours to enjoy the way things could be. As Waters says, “Who needs the ugly truth?”

Friday night at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the audience roared its approval of the performers loudly enough to be heard in Hampden, even applauding lines of dialogue about the stupidity of bigotry or the possibility of people learning to live together and learn from each other. It seemed that this crowd wanted to underline each point. Maybe I'm reading too much into the response, but it sure felt to me like something cathartic was going on in the hall.

That people were reluctant to leave afterward said a lot, too.

As was the case in 2013, the streamlined presentation of “Hairspray” looks great. With spot-on costumes and only a few props, scenes are deftly set. The plot, inspired by a teen dance program broadcast on a Baltimore TV station in the early 1960s and the attempt to integrate it, is effectively propelled by director/choreographer Jennifer Ladner. (The hall is always problematic for amplified performances; on Friday, many a song lyric was lost to the mushy acoustics.)

I would have welcomed some fresh tweaks to Waters' narration, but it's still colorful and still delivered with flair.

Laura Marie Rondinella is a winning Tracy Turnblad, the “fat white girl [who] fights for integration,” as Waters puts it. She is quite disarming in the love-struck ballad “I Can Hear the Bells” and the wistful reprise of “Good Morning Baltimore” in Act 2.

With his vivid acting and impressive vocal chops, Paul Vogt fits the role of Tracy's protective mom Edna as snugly as its Broadway creator, Harvey Fierstein. Vogt is charmingly partnered here by George Wendt (of “Cheers” fame) as jokester husband Wilbur.

Beth Leavel is a hoot as hideously hateful Velma, who wants to steer kids “in the white direction.” Ron Remke shines as TV dance show host Corny Collins. NaTasha Yvette Williams makes a mighty Motormouth Maybelle, using her lush low register and searing top to make the civil rights anthem “I Know Where I've Been” hit hard.

Among the many vivid performances are those by Ron Remke (Corny Collins), Matthew Scott (Link Larkin), Julie Kavanagh (Penny Pingleton), and Stephen Scott Wormley (a very suave Seaweed). N'Kenge, Natalie Renee and Kara-Tameika Watkins deliver blazing vocalism as the Dynamites. Note, too, the poised work of Baltimore School for the Arts senior Jaylan Simmons (Little Inez), whose classmates form the fine chorus.

And don't overlook the work of the BSO, which gives Marc Shaiman's score a vivid workout, guided with his usual impeccable control and expressive flair by principal pops conductor Jack Everly.

tim.smith@baltsun.com