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Hairspray: What's going right?
Posted by Jack on Friday 15th May 2009 at 9:43AM
| As Hairspray approaches its first major cast change in almost two years in the West End, UK Tickets takes a look at what has fast become one of London’s most popular shows. Based on the quirky cult 1988 film, written and directed by the eccentric John Waters and starring such cultural legends as Sonny Bono, Debbie Harry and Divine alongside a young Ricki Lake, Hairspray made its first appearance on Broadway in 2002. On the surface, Hairspray was a big, bright, fun show, but like the movie it carried a serious and historically significant story, tackling the issue of discrimination on many levels. While larger than life Tracy is judged based on her weight, just as her agoraphobic mother had, she refuses to let it get her down as she pursues, and achieves, her dream of being a dancer on a local TV show. Instant hit The premise then acts as a vehicle to promote equality as Tracy sets about racially integrating the show, angering the producer of a show filmed in the segregated Baltimore of the early 1960’s. As a heroine and role model, Tracy is every bit as attractive to teenagers as green witch Elphaba in London’s other teen-magnet show Wicked. The show’s themes are accessible to all ages, and they are hammered home with rousing, 1960’s style musical numbers, energetic dance routines and big, bold, cartoon like design. A huge hit on Broadway, Hairspray won an astounding eight Tonys and nine Drama Desk awards, and in 2007 the show was immortalised on screen in a hit musical movie starring such luminaries as Michelle Pfeiffer, John Travolts, Christopher Walken and Zac Efron. It is for all these reasons that the cast love being part of the show. The leads Leanne Jones, Michael Ball and Ben James Ellis have all been in the show (as Tracy, her mother Edna and love interest Link respectively) since performances began in London in October 2007, an unprecedented length of time for a show to maintain its principal line-up. For Michael Ball, playing Edna marks the longest he has ever stayed in the same stage role in his illustrious, 25-year career. He also won his first ever Olivier award for the role in 2008, after the show received a record breaking eleven nominations. Ball took home Best Actor in a Musical. Leanne Jones took Best Actress in a Musical while the show itself was named Best New Musical. |
   l-r: Olivier award winners Michael Ball and Leanne Jones as Edna and Tracy; the original London cast during the show's vibrant climax; Brian Conley as Harold Hill in CFT's The Music Man in 2008, for which he won a TMA award |
| UK beginnings Hairspray’s triumphant success was predicted early on, as the regular postponement of the show’s beginning created an enormous buzz, with theatre gossips talking a London production as early as summer 2006. When the show was finally confirmed to be taking the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 with a musical theatre legend in what was soon to become a highly coveted and talked about role, the theatre community’s excitement came to a head, and weekend tickets for the show’s first few months sold out in a matter of days. It also helped that the announcement was made around the same time that the film was released in the UK, so for some months, the nation was gripped by Hairspray fever. Even now, it remains one of the toughest shows to get into at the weekend. Unsurprisingly, when it was announced that Michael, Leanne and Ben would not be renewing their contracts beyond July 2009, the cast change was the subject of rampant and widespread gossip. While it was widely assumed that the new Tracy, like Leanne Jones, would be a newcomer to the West End stage, the roles of Link and especially Edna were hotly debated. Some names banded around for Link were Grease’s Danny Bain, Ray Quinn and Demons’ Christian Cooke, while potential Ednas included George Wendt, Freddie Starr, Peter Kay and even Johnny Vegas. Last month, it was confirmed that from July, Edna will be played by TV comedian and award winning stage actor Brian Conley, Link by Wicked’s Liam Tamne and Tracy by Guildford School of Acting graduate Chloe Hart. The future Even the show’s hardened fans are enthusiastic about the new line-up, and Hairspray while the show’s first major overhaul is surely a daunting prospect, it looks certain to sail through with ease. Michael Ball, Leanne Jones and Ben James Ellis will be appearing until 25 July 2009, and Brian Conley, Chloe Hart and Liam Tmne will take over on 27 July. Tickets for the summer holidays are already being snapped up, and you can grab yours here. |
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