HAIRSPRAY
PRESENTED BY SOLOMON ARTISTES
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
Wed 27 - Sun 31 May
PRESENTED BY SOLOMON ARTISTES
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
Wed 27 - Sun 31 May
Hairspray is one of those musicals that should have you grinning from ear to ear the very minute the band strikes up and teenager,Tracy Turnblad takes to the stage with the enthusiastic and optimistic “Good Morning Baltimore” opening number; and we certainly weren’t let down.
Amy Rattenbury epitomises the character of the ever hopeful, plump school girl, who longs to be part of the Corny Collins Show. She did a fabulous job in a part that demands a huge amount of stamina.
It’s 1962 and Tracy Turnblad longs to be a council member of the popular music and dance programme that she watches on her tv at home with her friend Penny Pingleton, played superbly by Isabel Oliver. Penny is Tracy’s quirky best friend and Amy and Isabel are a perfect pairing. Isabel does a wonderful job of encapsulating Penny’s character with some well timed comedy moments and she also has a deceptively big voice inside that tiny frame. She was a joy to watch.
The show introduces us to Corny Collins played with just the right amount of suaveness by Ryan Looker and amongst the “nicest kids in town” are Amber Von Tussle and Link Larkin, who are the most popular of all the performers on the show. Aisling Norcup is very believable as the nasty Amber fuelled by her mother Velma’s ambitions for her to become the most popular girl on the show.
Luke Reid had me in stitches with his interpretation of the good looking, hopelessly vain Link. This young man is a natural performer and showed off some great dance moves too.
Louise Kempson totally owned the part of vampy ‘has-been’ and pushy mother Velma. She belted out Miss Baltimore Crabs with fabulous venom and reminded me a tad of Cruella de Ville with that wicked laugh!
As the show moves along we meet Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur played by Jason Markham and Jonny Buxton. Edna has become overweight and too shy and embarrassed to leave the house but nonetheless is worshipped by her ever-loving husband, Wilbur. These two have a fabulous audience pleasing number in Act 2, “You’re Timeless to Me” and Jonny Buxton pulls this off superbly with some great comedy moments.
Following in the footsteps of such names as Michael Ball (in the West End) and John Travolta in the film version, was never going to be an easy task for Jason, playing the iconic Edna, but he just about managed it (albeit with a few shaky moments on the opening night). He certainly looked the part with some really well done hair and makeup and not a too bad looking pair of pins!
Things start to look up for Tracy when she is introduced to black dancer Seaweed, played with just the right amount of slickness by Promise Moyo, during a detention at school. He is one of the dancer’s on The Corny Collins Show’s Negro Day and he shows Tracy some of his smooth moves. Tracy auditions for the Corny Collins show with her newly found skills and wins a place, much to her parent’s delight.
Edna is then brought up to date with the fabulous number “Welcome to the Sixties” and decked out with a new fancy wardrobe by a wonderfully camp Mr Pinkie, played by Reece Johnson and musically backed up by the delicious Dynamites.
The person who almost stole the show for me, however, was Meg Odegbami as Motormouth Maybelle. It’s hard to believe that this is Meg’s first big role on the stage. She sure can belt out a tune and I would love to hear more of that amazing voice. “I Know Where I’ve Been” was a real showstopper. Also, Kea Powlette, playing Little Inez gave a lovely performance with a great, confident singing voice.
The rest of the show follows Tracy’s selfless attempt to integrate the Corny Collins Show with the people’s acceptance of black and white dancers performing together, despite coming up against some tough obstacles. However, her motto that “you’ve got to think big to be big” stands her in good stead and her declaration that she’s “all for integration, it’s the new frontier!” fires her along to complete her mission, much to the initial shock of her peers.
This show is moved along nicely with some great upbeat songs and I particularly enjoyed “Mama I’m a Big Girl Now” and “Without Love”, (one of my favourites) accompanied by some pleasing choreography, which couldn’t have been easy with a cast of such varying ages and skills, especially as this show is predominantly song and dance focused. All credit to Kerry Jenkins and Lisa Coll for creating some really well balanced routines for this production.
MD, Paul Day and his 10 piece orchestra produced a great sound and he solidly kept the flow of the production going from the orchestra pit.
The whole cast should be credited for their enthusiasm in producing a really uplifting and enjoyable show, with lots of really great individual performances.
Hairspray is one of those shows that as well as being full of energy and fun, still has the ability to spread a moral message to its audience. In this case, it’s acceptance; whether that be of someone’s size or race. Solomon Artistes have certainly done a great job in sending that message home in this production. Congratulations to all the cast and crew of Hairspray for a thoroughly entertaining evening!
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
WHAT THE AUDIENCE THOUGHT
Amy Rattenbury epitomises the character of the ever hopeful, plump school girl, who longs to be part of the Corny Collins Show. She did a fabulous job in a part that demands a huge amount of stamina.
It’s 1962 and Tracy Turnblad longs to be a council member of the popular music and dance programme that she watches on her tv at home with her friend Penny Pingleton, played superbly by Isabel Oliver. Penny is Tracy’s quirky best friend and Amy and Isabel are a perfect pairing. Isabel does a wonderful job of encapsulating Penny’s character with some well timed comedy moments and she also has a deceptively big voice inside that tiny frame. She was a joy to watch.
The show introduces us to Corny Collins played with just the right amount of suaveness by Ryan Looker and amongst the “nicest kids in town” are Amber Von Tussle and Link Larkin, who are the most popular of all the performers on the show. Aisling Norcup is very believable as the nasty Amber fuelled by her mother Velma’s ambitions for her to become the most popular girl on the show.
Luke Reid had me in stitches with his interpretation of the good looking, hopelessly vain Link. This young man is a natural performer and showed off some great dance moves too.
Louise Kempson totally owned the part of vampy ‘has-been’ and pushy mother Velma. She belted out Miss Baltimore Crabs with fabulous venom and reminded me a tad of Cruella de Ville with that wicked laugh!
As the show moves along we meet Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur played by Jason Markham and Jonny Buxton. Edna has become overweight and too shy and embarrassed to leave the house but nonetheless is worshipped by her ever-loving husband, Wilbur. These two have a fabulous audience pleasing number in Act 2, “You’re Timeless to Me” and Jonny Buxton pulls this off superbly with some great comedy moments.
Following in the footsteps of such names as Michael Ball (in the West End) and John Travolta in the film version, was never going to be an easy task for Jason, playing the iconic Edna, but he just about managed it (albeit with a few shaky moments on the opening night). He certainly looked the part with some really well done hair and makeup and not a too bad looking pair of pins!
Things start to look up for Tracy when she is introduced to black dancer Seaweed, played with just the right amount of slickness by Promise Moyo, during a detention at school. He is one of the dancer’s on The Corny Collins Show’s Negro Day and he shows Tracy some of his smooth moves. Tracy auditions for the Corny Collins show with her newly found skills and wins a place, much to her parent’s delight.
Edna is then brought up to date with the fabulous number “Welcome to the Sixties” and decked out with a new fancy wardrobe by a wonderfully camp Mr Pinkie, played by Reece Johnson and musically backed up by the delicious Dynamites.
The person who almost stole the show for me, however, was Meg Odegbami as Motormouth Maybelle. It’s hard to believe that this is Meg’s first big role on the stage. She sure can belt out a tune and I would love to hear more of that amazing voice. “I Know Where I’ve Been” was a real showstopper. Also, Kea Powlette, playing Little Inez gave a lovely performance with a great, confident singing voice.
The rest of the show follows Tracy’s selfless attempt to integrate the Corny Collins Show with the people’s acceptance of black and white dancers performing together, despite coming up against some tough obstacles. However, her motto that “you’ve got to think big to be big” stands her in good stead and her declaration that she’s “all for integration, it’s the new frontier!” fires her along to complete her mission, much to the initial shock of her peers.
This show is moved along nicely with some great upbeat songs and I particularly enjoyed “Mama I’m a Big Girl Now” and “Without Love”, (one of my favourites) accompanied by some pleasing choreography, which couldn’t have been easy with a cast of such varying ages and skills, especially as this show is predominantly song and dance focused. All credit to Kerry Jenkins and Lisa Coll for creating some really well balanced routines for this production.
MD, Paul Day and his 10 piece orchestra produced a great sound and he solidly kept the flow of the production going from the orchestra pit.
The whole cast should be credited for their enthusiasm in producing a really uplifting and enjoyable show, with lots of really great individual performances.
Hairspray is one of those shows that as well as being full of energy and fun, still has the ability to spread a moral message to its audience. In this case, it’s acceptance; whether that be of someone’s size or race. Solomon Artistes have certainly done a great job in sending that message home in this production. Congratulations to all the cast and crew of Hairspray for a thoroughly entertaining evening!
www.southendtheatres.org.uk
WHAT THE AUDIENCE THOUGHT
Susan Dumatey, Stanford-le-Hope
“I thought it was really good. Tracey and Wilbur were my favourites. Motormouth Maybelle had the best voice.”
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Sarah Warrens, 38, Westcliff-on-Sea
“Motormouth Maybelle’s voice was amazing. I liked the comedy from Wilbur.”
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Laura Joseph, 17, Shoeburyness
“I’ve come to support Luke Reid who was Link Larkin and I thought he was just fantastic! Tracey was really good too.”
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Danielle Hedley-Jameson, 31, Great Wakering
“Penny’s characterisation was fabulous. I was a bit disappointed with Edna. I suppose it’s hard to be a director and performer in the same production. Link had great stage presence and a special sparkle!”
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