Hairspray The Musical
May 20, 2008
Based on the 1988 movie Hairspray by John Waters, ‘Hairspray the Musical’ tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a young and incredibly talented performer growing up in the 1960s who auditions for a popular television program only to find that being famous isn’t necessarily all it’s made out to be. Continually ridiculed for being overweight and confused by the divisions between the white Americans and African-Americans in her community, Tracy fights for acceptance and understanding. She continually proves her critics wrong as she performs trendy dance routines and sings catchy pop songs and quickly gains a fan-base in her small home town. Despite the continued sabotage attempts of Velma and Amber Von Tussle (a mother-daughter team who also want desperately to be famous), Tracy finds love in the arms of the television show’s star Link Larkin and popularity amongst her fellow performers. Although the close of the musical sees Tracy triumph over her rivals and put right all the wrongs which have been portrayed throughout the story, the implication is made that some of the key injustices featured in the story are still experienced in modern times and that it is now the duty of the audience members to fight against such inequalities.
When ‘Hairspray’ (the original movie version) was initially released in 1988, critics approved of the message it sent out to audiences. The movie eventually went on to be nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, as well as being short-listed for six Independent Spirit Awards. It is little surprise that the movie was quickly adapted for stage, first showing on Broadway in 2002 and later on the West End in 2007. The story has since been remade into the 2007 movie which featured newcomer Nikki Blonsky in the lead role with John Travolta (somewhat controversially) playing the role of Tracy Turnblad’s mother and teenage-heart throb Zac Efron as Link. It would appear that the story remains relevant despite it’s continuous remakes precisely because both the film and musical versions unflinchingly tackle several key social problems (including body issues, obesity, and racial and class harmony).
The West End production of the musical has been incredibly successful, particularly as it’s opening coincided neatly with the release of the newest movie version of Hairspray (which topped the box office for a number of weeks). Fortunately the production crew responsible for the Broadway adaptation reunited for the London season, and as such the quality of the musical has been retained. The West End performances feature well known theatre stars such as Michael Ball, Mel Smith, Ben James-Ellis and Tracie Bennett, and has been nominated for a record-breaking number of eleven Olivier awards. If you are planning to attend the West End production it is highly recommended that you book as far ahead as possible - finding London theatre tickets for the popular shows can be tricky at the best of times, but ‘Hairspray’ has been especially popular.
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