From 2000s classic to broadway favourite, Hairspray has been well-loved for decades since the first film came out in 1988. Equally hilarious and meaningful, the show is a perfect night out filled with fun, beats, some tears, and many laughs.
If you don’t know what Hairspray is about, it follows Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore. She’s your average teenage girl, dreaming of being famous and in love with a teenage boy on a dancing show, The Corny Collins Show. When she gets her chance of making it on the show, she sees the cost of fame and the pain of segregation for black people in America, so she decides to fight back.
The audience was instantly transported back to the early 1960s with the combination of set and staging, outfits and hair. Projection Designer, George Reeve did a great job bringing Baltimore to life with the backdrops of the city and significant locations, made more immersive with Set and Costume Designer, Takis putting immense work into each scene to make it distinct.
The clear class divide between the Turnblads and von Tussles is immediately set with their outfits and abodes, one more humble and simple, while the latter were ostentatious in clothing, manner, and housing. In addition to class, the racial divide was prominent throughout the show with the spatial disparity between the minority and majority groups. While on stage, there was always a clear (though subtle) separation and animosity from the group of white characters to the group of black characters, clearly demonstrating the segregation within America that had not yet been dissolved.
The political and social commentary was a consistent undertone, supported by the projections behind the cast, not letting the audience forget the terrible discrimination faced by minorities, despite the feel-good, positive and comical nature of the show. All of these parts were really elevated through the emotive understudy Sasha Monique playing Motormouth Maybelle and her number, I Know Where I’ve Been. Her performance was moving, important and brought a tear to my eye. It truly brought the whole thing home.
On the other end of elevation were Neil Hurst and Demot Canavan as Edna and Wilbur Turnblad. My goodness were they the perfect pair! Each scene they were in transformed into throw-your-head-back laughs, leaving everyone in hysterics. They were the wholesome driving force of the story, believing in Tracy (even if Edna didn’t initially), providing that stability and love that the other parents did not for their children (as seen in the heavily contrasting triad performance of Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now). The Trunblads’ duet of You’re Timeless to Me left myself and the entire theatre with tears of laughter, made even more hilarious with the couple laughing on-stage. Their comedic timing and chemistry was pivotal to the humour of the show and their presence on stage was a thrill!
Combining the talented cast with Drew McConie’s choreography and Philip Gladwell’s light design, there was always something happening on stage, hints given, relationships established, and atmosphere enhanced. The lighting helped set each scene and mood, from flashy and colourful to sombre and serious. In a similar way, all the movements of the cast felt purposeful and told a story - their feelings, their circumstances, and their connections. Each element on and off the stage merged to create a complex, yet hopeful story about what could be.
The upbeat positivity that ran through the musical couldn’t have been established without Katie Brace’s brilliant acting and singing as Tracy Turnblad. Beginning the show with Good Morning, Baltimore and ending with You Can’t Stop the Beat helped start and conclude with hope and optimism for the future. From looking forward to the day ahead to looking forward to an integrated and more equal society in the future, the show was charming, wholesome, inspiring and incredibly moving.
Hairspray is a touching and passionate story about coming together to fight for change and what’s right, battling that oppressive system, and not letting the world with their outdated ideas control what one can and cannot do.
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