Hairspray

Don’t let the camp nature of Hairspray fool you, heavy are being tackled, but all under the guise of sequins, shoulder shimmy’s and some stunning singing. Based upon the much loved film of the same name, this show is undoubtedly the most fun you can have in an evening on the West End, with stellar performances, songs that won’t leave your head for weeks and dazzling sets which really capture the mood of the early 1960’s.

Winning the best Musical Award from the Evening Standard in 2007, the show charts the rise of Tracy Turnblad, from overweight, unpopular kid at school with dreams of stardom, to the lead dancer on local daytime TV dance show the Corny Collins Show and a love interest with lead male and most popular guy in school Link Larkin. Tracy’s fame soon leads her into a stand-off with the racist television network and Tracy needs all her quick-step dancing and hair-raising fashion to make sure that T.V is indeed both black AND white.

Each member of the cast of this show is so delightfully realised that they each need their own article! Sadly, we don’t have that kind of space so, instead, here are the main features. Michael Ball’s turn as Edna Turnblad, Tracy’s mother, is simply fantastic. Playing the part much closer to the mark than Travolta did in the film version; Ball plays upon the fact that he is a man in drag to add another layer to Edna’s character, culminating in the hilarious switch to a deep voice when having an argument with station manager, and Amber’s mother, Velma Von-Tussle. The character of Tracy’s best friend, Penny, is also much more richly portrayed on the stage than on the screen, the actresses’ stunning vocal range allows Penny to throw of her geeky facade in the finale with wonderful aplomb and a voice that will leave the audience stunned.

From the first moment the giant bed turns around at the start of the performance and Tracy begins to belt out “Good Morning Baltimore” you know that this show is going to be a riot from start to finish; there’s even a good two or three more numbers than there were in the original film version. As the song goes “you can try to stop my dancing feet, but I just cannot sit still”, you most certainly will not be able to. By your tickets for Hairspray and other top West End Shows at theatreguide.co.uk.