Hairspray
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Mon 16 - Sat 21 May 2016
8pm
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
Mon 16 - Sat 21 May 2016
8pm
Starring Claire Sweeney as Velma Von Tussle, Peter Duncan as Wilbur Turnblad and Matt Rixon as Edna Turnblad
Southend’s Cliffs Pavilion is the final stop for the national UK tour of Hairspray, the smash hit musical comedy which found phenomenal success both on Broadway and in the West End. In 2007 the show was made into the hugely successful movie, starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicki Blonsky, Christopher Walken and Queen Latifah. Hairspray boasts one of the best feel-good, upbeat scores around written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who won both the Tony and Grammy as well as the Olivier Award for the show. Fans of the hit US tv series SMASH may also know that they also wrote the original score for the Marilyn Monroe musical, Bombshell, which came out of that series, as well as writing the score for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory for director, Sam Mendes.
Back to Hairspray - It’s Baltimore, 1962 where Tracy Turnblad, played on the night I attended by understudy, Rosie O'Hare. Tracy is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart and is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV's The Corny Collins Show. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star, much to the disgust of Amber von Tussle, nicely played by Lauren Stroud and her mother Velma, (Claire Sweeney). She is soon using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob and Amber's boyfriend, Link Larkin, along the way.
Being a huge fan of the film and having seen the fabulous West End production twice, my expectations for this touring production were probably a tad higher than most. Hairspray is one of those musicals that should have you grinning from ear to ear the from the moment the opening number's first note is struck, as the ever-enthusiastic Tracey Turnblad belts out Good Morning Baltimore but sadly this wasn't the case. Most of the first Act seemed rather lacklustre, with the principal performers seemingly just going through the motions. Having said that, the ensemble were certainly giving it their all with some really energetic dance numbers which really helped to lift the show.
Claire Sweeney certainly made the most of the vampy, pushy mother, Velma von Tussle and I did enjoy Matt Rixon as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's self-conscious mother; especially in the scene with Peter Duncan as Tracy's joke shop owner dad, Wilbur in their You're Timeless to Me number. This is one of those numbers that gives the actors full licence to try and make each other corpse and certainly didn't fail on this occasion, when a trick at the beginning of the number clearly didn't come to fruition!
I also really enjoyed Without Love sung by Tracy and Link, a sexy but just not quite vain enough Ashley Gilmour. Monique Young as Tracy's best friend, Penny Pingleton, provided some fabulous characterisation to the part and was a joy to watch. Likewise, Dex Lee and Karis Jack as Seaweed and Little Inez also proved that they can act as well as sing and dance.
For me, Hairspray is all about the message it carries about acceptance and integration on the back of an amazing score and the highlight of the evening was another understudy, Aiesha Pease as Motormouth Maybelle who generated the biggest applause of the night and gave me goosebumps with her knock-out rendition of I Know Where I've Been. In actual fact, the whole cast provided an amazing sound to the production and I couldn't fault the musical quality, although I do think they were let down by a rather unimpressive set.
Thankfully, the show did seem to pick up more pace in the second Act and audiences were all on their feet for the rousing finale. It may be worth pointing out, however, that if audiences are paying out a substantial amount of money for a West End quality show, this is what they want to see. Perhaps this is something that producers really need to take into consideration for future touring productions.
For tickets to see Hairspray go to www.southendtheatres.org or call the box office on 01702 351135
Back to Hairspray - It’s Baltimore, 1962 where Tracy Turnblad, played on the night I attended by understudy, Rosie O'Hare. Tracy is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart and is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV's The Corny Collins Show. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star, much to the disgust of Amber von Tussle, nicely played by Lauren Stroud and her mother Velma, (Claire Sweeney). She is soon using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob and Amber's boyfriend, Link Larkin, along the way.
Being a huge fan of the film and having seen the fabulous West End production twice, my expectations for this touring production were probably a tad higher than most. Hairspray is one of those musicals that should have you grinning from ear to ear the from the moment the opening number's first note is struck, as the ever-enthusiastic Tracey Turnblad belts out Good Morning Baltimore but sadly this wasn't the case. Most of the first Act seemed rather lacklustre, with the principal performers seemingly just going through the motions. Having said that, the ensemble were certainly giving it their all with some really energetic dance numbers which really helped to lift the show.
Claire Sweeney certainly made the most of the vampy, pushy mother, Velma von Tussle and I did enjoy Matt Rixon as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's self-conscious mother; especially in the scene with Peter Duncan as Tracy's joke shop owner dad, Wilbur in their You're Timeless to Me number. This is one of those numbers that gives the actors full licence to try and make each other corpse and certainly didn't fail on this occasion, when a trick at the beginning of the number clearly didn't come to fruition!
I also really enjoyed Without Love sung by Tracy and Link, a sexy but just not quite vain enough Ashley Gilmour. Monique Young as Tracy's best friend, Penny Pingleton, provided some fabulous characterisation to the part and was a joy to watch. Likewise, Dex Lee and Karis Jack as Seaweed and Little Inez also proved that they can act as well as sing and dance.
For me, Hairspray is all about the message it carries about acceptance and integration on the back of an amazing score and the highlight of the evening was another understudy, Aiesha Pease as Motormouth Maybelle who generated the biggest applause of the night and gave me goosebumps with her knock-out rendition of I Know Where I've Been. In actual fact, the whole cast provided an amazing sound to the production and I couldn't fault the musical quality, although I do think they were let down by a rather unimpressive set.
Thankfully, the show did seem to pick up more pace in the second Act and audiences were all on their feet for the rousing finale. It may be worth pointing out, however, that if audiences are paying out a substantial amount of money for a West End quality show, this is what they want to see. Perhaps this is something that producers really need to take into consideration for future touring productions.
For tickets to see Hairspray go to www.southendtheatres.org or call the box office on 01702 351135
Matt Rixon (Edna Turnblad), Claire Sweeney (Velma Von Tussle) and Peter Duncan (Wilbur Turnblad)
Ask the Audience
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Hannah, 18 from Hawkwell
"I saw it in the West End with Michael Ball and I thought tonight was better. I really liked Tracey Turnblad - she was definitely my favourite in the show and I loved 'Welcome to the Sixties'. I stood up and danced at the end. It was a really good night!" 
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Jos Clarke, 45 from Southend-on-Sea
"Link was the one who stood out for me. I loved his song 'It Takes Two', I thought it was sung beautifully. Overall, I would say it was a really enjoyable show, with great costumes and songs. I do think the price of the ticket was quite expensive though!" 
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