Hairspray

Hairspray - Greasepaint and Stage Lights - Theatre Radio Show

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Hairspray

Hairspray

Waterside Theatre - Aylesbury

Review Complete

“It is such a feel good show”

17th February 2025

Review

What a pleasure it was to see the tour of Hairspray last night a Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. It is such a feel good show full of fantastic dancing, singing and an uplifting message about discrimination and inclusion.

It is the story of Tracy Turnblad, a trendy teenager in 1962 who is obsessed with the Corney Collins Talent show on local TV. Her particular crush is Link Larkin so when a dancer on the show leaves, Tracy decides to audition. But Velma Von Tussle, who is the Producer of the show and whose daughter Amber is the star, cruelly rejects Tracy because of her size.

Tracy is very hurt by this but she is encouraged by a group of black students at her school. They understand how she feels and they all band together to oust Velma from the Corney Collins show and bring inclusivity and change. Tracy was admirably played with a great voice and huge energy by Katie Brace. Neil Hurst played Tracy’s mother, the ubiquitous Edna Turnblad, he did a good job but was hampered by a very poor wig and virtually no makeup which made him look like a rather cheap pantomime dame.

He worked very well with Dermot Canavan who played the husband, Wilbur and their act 2 duet - You’re Timeless To Me - really stopped the show! Joanne Clifton was a fabulous Velma Von Tussle! Brilliant singing and dancing and she was deliciously vicious! I absolutely loved her! Michelle Ndegwa was a great Motormouth Maybelle and Katlo played Little Inez. What a great singer she is!

The dancing and singing from the ensemble and smaller parts was excellent throughout and all in all it was a great show. But if I have any complaint, it was the timing of the dialogue. The characters were so over the top that it was difficult to time the funny lines and, particularly in Act 1, quite a few of them were met with silence from the audience.

But it was easy to tell how much everyone enjoyed the show because we were all up and dancing to You Can’t Stop The Beat at the end! It really was a great fun evening out for all the family!

Reviewer: Julia Rufey

We are Gifted tickets so that in return we may give an honest review. All comments are those of the reviewer and theirs alone.