"He geared her down, and I thought the other filly might get to us.
She also improvises and gears her performances to the audience, whether that means belting out "Mary Poppins" songs or Taylor Swift's.
Others, like Maria Pardo from the city of Villavicencio in the heart of guerrilla territory, could not help but burst into tears as she geared her message to her son's captors.
But Ms. Stefani, who is now 30, isn't gearing all her songs to listeners half her age.
Its greatest British star, Darcy Bussell, who is gearing back her involvement in any case, chose not to join this tour.
"Hairspray" is geared to her energy and her triumph.
She was already in gear: her kind face had set into fierce muscle.
But, once it shifts into fourth gear, her play grips compulsively.
She ran through her closet's golden oldies: childhood equestrian clothes, Salvation Army hippie gear, her red wedding dress.
He said he and his employees found it profoundly unsettling not to know "whether to back her down or gear her up, to use a trucker's terms".
