Hairspray (UK Tour)
Bristol Hippodrome
Reviewed on Monday 5th March 2018 by Calvin Welsford
★★★★
Hairspray has always been a show I’ve been dying to see live. I fell in love with the 2007 movie and then most recently with NBC’s tv special, Hairspray Live! starring Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Hudson and Dove Cameron, to name a few!
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have high expectations of the show, because I did. Thankfully the show lived up to these; it was so amazing and a lot funnier than I’d anticipated.
I think my expectations were so high as previous cast members have been very strong and unique, such as Ariana Grande, Matthew Morrison, Harvey Fierstein and Queen Latifah. But the UK tour cast did a phenomenal job of bringing the characters to the stage and evoked the same emotions I’d previously felt and hoped for.
Max Rixton & Norman Price completely stole the show with their version of ‘You’re Timeless To Me’. A unscripted innuendo ‘I can feel your bells’ managed to have the audience and the cast laughing for several minutes. It was clear that the two actors on stage had a good connection as there were non stop innuendos and comebacks during the whole scene.
Rebecca Mendoza made an impressive professional debut as the larger-than-life, Tracy whilst Layton Williams and Edward Chitticks were fabulous as Seaweed and Link.
Although the show overall was incredible, the only thing which I personally think could be improved would be the set. During certain scenes the background is projected on a screen rather than being an actual set piece. This felt a little lacking and made the show feel slightly amateur.
However, I can’t knock the performances of the cast or the direction- everything else was 10/10. Mention must go to Drew McOnie’s choreography which perfectly fits the vibe of the show and is energetic throughout.
If you like musical theatre and especially Hairspray, I’d 100% recommend seeing the current UK Tour!
Hairspray is at the Bristol Hippodrome until 10th March, before continuing its tour.
photo credit: Darren Bell
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