After the fantastic experience that was Priscilla on Monday night I knew coming into Hairspray tonight that it was always going to be hard for it to compete. However Hairspray is still one of the bigger musicals in town at the moment so I think it did hold its own (though I still loved Priscilla more.)

I saw the movie a little while ago and because I was impressed enough with the movie version this inspired me to bring Teesh along to see the musical. Hairspray deals with all sorts of diversity issues from the obvious race issue to the image issue (that is, that everyone has to be body perfect) so not only is it a good musical it is also a story with morals of tolerance and acceptance. Chubby teen Tracy Turnblad is the central character of the show and we follow her as she attempts to join the Corny Collins Show, a popular TV dance/music show, win the boy, and, most importantly, end racial segregation.

One of the things that Hairspray didn’t have going for it was the big party hits that Priscilla had so some of the musical pieces to me lacked a bit of the energy that Priscilla had. Though delivered well some of the songs seemed to stretch on and on. However, what really impressed me was that the set was constantly moving even in the middle of the songs so there was always something to keep your eye on.

Hairspray is a physically demanding show and this was most telling on the lead female, Leanne Jones, who played Tracy. At the beginning of the show she was really hitting her numbers and when the last, and arguably the biggest song of the night You Can’t Stop The Beat, came on she really lagged and could barely even lift her arms. Poor thing! She was pretty good anyway despite the lack of energy at the end however the contrast between her and her best friend, who undergoes a transformation from mousey shy girl to vibrant and ball of energy, was very dramatic. Otherwise the cast were superb and you felt like you were transported back into the 60s they were so energetic.

Interestingly the crowd really got into the musical tonight with lots of cheering and cat-calling. Great atmosphere. At one point this infected even the cast as Tracy’s parents, played by Michael Ball (brilliant as her mother) and Nigel Planer, the comic foil, were singing a duet of sorts, a rather funny song, and it was all they could do to stop themselves from laughing. It was actually quite charming.

In fact, charming is how I’d describe Hairspray. It’s the musical with the big heart.