Hairspray

FOLLOWING last year's success with Me and My Girl, Marsden have plumped for another 'feel-good' musical, and judging by the response from the audience on opening night, they seem sure to be on another winner.
Set in the early Sixties in Baltimore, USA, Hairspray is a big and brash show with some belting numbers and focuses on plus-size teenager Tracy Turnblad and her dream of dancing on a popular TV show, much to the chagrin of her larger-than-life mother, Edna.
Along the way she falls foul of the show's producer Velma von Tussle and her fame-hungry daughter Amber, before becoming a flag bearer for the racial segregation issue which gripped and rightly condemned America during that country's dark days.
Being a sugar-coated musical however, the race issue is pretty much glossed over and eventually leads to a happy ending. If only art reflected life!
Lucie Bolton must be congratulated for taking on and conquering the massive and energetically challenging role of Tracy, while seasoned performer Robbie Pogson (more than a hint of the late Les Dawson here)  does a fabulous job of filling the shoes of Michael Ball, who famously played Edna in the original West End production.
I enjoyed the performance of Chloe Shufflebotham as Tracey's sidekick Penny Pingleton, although some of her amusing one-liners were lost due to sound-deck issues, while there was plenty of other good supporting roles from Mia Bates as star-struck Amber, and Daren Wild as Tracey's dad Wilbur, who had a touch of the 'Duracell bunny' about his manic portrayal.
Vocally however, the biggest plaudits have to go to the excellent Heather Thompson in the cameo role of Motormouth Maybelle - really enjoyed 'I Know Where I've Been' with the Dynamites - closely followed by Niamh Edge as Little Inez along with Adrian Russell as Seaweed J Stubbs.
Director Dawn Leigh has put together a solid production, along with choreographer Carolynne Crowder and MD Richard Lord, although there were a few tonal issues along the way, but then first nights are invariably fraught with the odd problem which I'm sure will be resolved with a bit of fine tweaking.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.