★★★☆☆
The brand spanking new UK tour of Hairspray kicks off at Palace Theatre Manchester with a roaring start – dazzling audiences with a glittering, hot, pink production – but disappointing some with its poorer production value.
22 years after opening on Broadway, the renowned American musical Hairspray – which is based on the 1988 non-musical film of the same name and was adapted into a musical film in 2007 – is still going strong.
Brenda Edwards (Loose Women) makes her directorial debut as Co-Director, with Paul Kerryson, transitioning from spotlight centre-stage as Motormouth Maybelle on the West End and on tour, on multiple runs from 2017-2022, to backstage during this 2024 revival.
Edwards speaks to the importance of Hairspray’s story, saying in an interview on This Morning that “There’s so much [inequality] in the world now, and Hairspray, I think, was before its time.”
Hairspray delves into Civil Rights history, delivering a powerful, yet comically digestible, message of inclusion and unity, which is as relevant and necessary today as to the production’s Broadway opening in the early 2000s – and even back when the original film was released in the late 1980s.
In terms of cast standouts, Neil Hurst, as the bawdy Edna Turnblad, was hilarious and an audience favourite, garnering the loudest laughs, bringing a Panto Dame vigour to the role that the Manchester audience adored.
Alexandra Emmerson Kirby, after completing her training at Italia Conti, makes her formidable professional debut in the lead role of Tracy Turnblad, bringing a powerful burst of energy and astounding vocals to her performance.
Reece Richards, recognisable from season 3 of Sex Education, was pitch perfect and velvety smooth as Seaweed, acing his big number ‘Run and Tell That’ and group number ‘Without Love’.
Unfortunately, the production value did not meet expectations as much as the cast did. Over the years, Hairspray‘s production value has decreased massively – to the point that now a huge screen is used in place of set. That’s what they meant by “new production”.
But whilst screens can enhance productions, this screen appeared faded and lacked clarity, occasionally being dampened by stage lighting.
Hairspray opens with the iconic ‘Good Morning Baltimore’, in which Tracy wakes up in bed, accompanied by projected visuals of Baltimore’s buildings and streets. Given that there are set pieces portraying two large tall buildings on either side of the stage, the additional projected buildings seemed redundant, especially as the poor quality of the projections did not enhance the visual experience. While the more abstract and darker in colour visual elements were somewhat more effective, the intended intricate details were lost due to the faded appearance of the projections.
Hairspray is a fun-for-all-the-family show, bound to brighten your evening. Jam-packed with iconic musical hits like ‘You can’t Stop the Beat’, which I’ve been singing all day after watching the performance by the way; this revival of Hairspray, though in need of a little hairspray of its own, is full of warmth and energy.
So, get yourself down to the Palace theatre before the Corny Collins Crew make their way down to Cardiff.
Hairspray runs at Palace Theatre Manchester until July 27 and tours the UK until April 2025.
Photo: ©ELLIEKURTTZ
JADAR 