Hairspray – Theatre Royal Newcastle

Book: Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meeham

Music: Marc Shaiman

Lyrics: Scott Wittman

Writer: John Waters

Directors: Paul Kerryson and Brenda Edwards

A night of pure, uplifting joy awaits the audience at the Theatre Royal Newcastle this week as Hairspray, on its UK tour, arrives in town. This show sprays the audience with bursts of iconic, toe tapping songs that moves the story along at a brisk pace. Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name. The musical has won eight Tony Awards including for best musical and it is easy to see why. It is directed by Paul Kerryson and Brenda Edwards alongside choreographer Drew McOnie.

The story is set in Baltimore in the 1960’s and depicts the journey of Tracy Turnblad (Katie Brace) as she follows her dreams to appear on the Corny Collins Show. This proves to be not an easy journey for Tracy. When auditions for the show are announced Tracy has to fight against peoples negative reactions to her plus size figure. Her talent overcomes this and she finally makes it on the show. But this is not the end of Tracy’s battle as she begins to fight for the black community’s goal to be integrated. A battle which is also finally won.

The simple staging and scene changes are very effective, with slick scene changes being effortless as they move between the Corny Collins studio, Tracy’s home and the home of her friends, high school, Motormouth Maybelle’s abode and the prison, then finally back to the studio. The back lighting reveals the orchestra bringing them into the action on stage.

The costumes are vibrant with a wonderful use of complimentary colour combinations. A mention must also be made of the wonderful lighting effects and the slick, polished choreography.

Although this is a show with a serious message there are lots of comedic moments. The stand out one is without doubt by the comedy duet of Neil Hurst (Edna Turnblad) and Dermot Canavan (Wilbur Turnblad). Their delivery of You’re Timeless To Me was a joy. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the breaking of the fourth wall as they broke out of character and laughed with each other. This reviewer doesn’t always approve of corpsing on stage but in this case it worked. The audience was witness to a delightful moment of joy that had the audience roaring with laughter.

Other stand out characters were Freya McMahon as Tracy’s friend, Penny Pingleton and the portrayal of the female authority figure played by Kirsty Sparks. McMahon showed outstanding characterisation with her role and the scene in the bedroom with her mother was particularly enjoyable. Sparks as the female authority figure, following the jail break, was also well observed and brought a comedic element to the character.

This is a fun, energising show with many toe tapping hits such as You Can’t Stop The Beat, Without Love and I Can Hear The Bells amongst others. However it does have a serious hidden message such as that of prejudices and racial equality and the need to believe in oneself. The energetic final number brought the audience to their feet this evening. The rapturous applause for an extremely talented cast of singers and dancers is well deserved. It certainly ends on a high note and leaves the audience wanting more.

Runs until 16th November 2024.