My first
experience of Hairspray was the film. The original film with Rikki Lake, Divine and
Debbie Harry . I loved it immediately. I
have to be honest and say I have not brought myself round to watching the
remake of the film. I just can’t see
John Travolta (sex god of Saturday Night Fever and Grease) dress up as a woman.
He was my own heart-throb once upon a
time. But I had never seen the stage
show. So front row on 7th
April 2016 I sat down not quite knowing what to expect. A friend had told me that the music was
written just for the stage show so I wouldn’t necessarily know the songs from
the film.
The story is
based around Tracy Turnblad who is a typical teenager in Baltimore during the
early 60’s. It’s a common theme of love,
fitting in with your peers and racism. Okay
racism isn’t always a common theme but this show really addresses it well.
From the first
scene of Tracy in bed (an upright bed on stage so we can see her) she is
instantly likeable. This makes the whole
show work. All the songs have an energy and vibe that makes the show a
feel-good show. Tracy is played by Freya
Sutton and gives a perfect performance of an chubby but enthusiastic teenager
and her love of dancing.
We soon meet
her mother Edna who is traditionally played by a man. Matt Rixon honed his inner motherly instincts
and was a rather pretty woman. He was
totally believable in the role and I enjoyed his performance very much. Her husband is played by Peter Duncan and
together they give Morecombe and Wise a run for their money as they are very
funny on screen, especially during the number ‘You’re timeless to me’.
Tracy’s best
friend is geek Penny, played superbly by Monique Young. Her awkward dancing and nervous status
transforms when she falls in love and it is wonderful to experience.
Amber Von
Tussle is the all-round cheerleader type. The perfect hair, teeth, weight and level of
bitchiness to be the best dancer on the Corny Collins Show. She is played by Lauren Stroud and delivered
an effortless performance of Amber. It
is hard to play someone that you know the audience may not like as everyone is
rooting for Tracy. Lauren plays Amber with perfect balance to that we don’t
quite hate her and can forgive her. Claire
Sweeney plays Velma, Amber’s mother, who is the producer of the show. Claire was absolutely fantastic in the role
and didn’t flinch for a moment out of character. At one point she comes into the audience and
stopped in front of me danced then stood on my chair to shout to the rest of the
audience that they shouldn’t like Tracy or have ‘coloureds’ on her show. Again it’s a difficult role to play because
the character is made to be disliked but Claire was so great in the role and
gave respect to Debbie Harry’s (yes Blondie!) original portrayal of the role. If Amber is the cheerleader then her
quarterback boyfriend is Link and he is played by Ashley Gilmour who gives a
great performance of that teenage heartthrob.
I did mention
racism and so let’s talk about some of the best black actors and dancers you
will ever see! Seaweed is the star of
the Corny Collins Show on ‘Negro day’. Once
a month they allow blacks to host a show. Dex Lee plays Seaweed and that boy could sing
dance and oozed sex appeal. I was almost
expecting Tracy to fall for him instead of Link! Seaweed has a cute little sister, played
perfectly by Karis Jack. Her
enthusiastic dancing and petite-ness gave the character exactly what she
needed. Fantastic performance. Their mother is Motormouth Maybelle and on tonight’s
performance was played by Aiesha Pease. Aiesha
actually make me cry with her singing of ‘I know where I’ve been’. Simply a faultless performance and extremely
moving.
Every single
cast member was exceptional and work as a team to bring the show together. The dancers absolutely took my breath away
with some of the moves. With the
exception of West Side Story (which is my all-time favourite musical) this is
the best choreography I have ever seen on stage!
The moral of
this show is dream big and it could happen.
I am not going to say ‘I have a dream…’ but you get the point.
Well done to
everyone involved in Hairspray. If you
only see one show this year – make it Hairspray!
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