Bringing music you can’t stop tapping to the beat to, bright costumes and sky-high hair dos, the award-winning musical Hairspray has certainly said “Good Morning Baltimore Manchester”. The musical comedy set in the 60s has embarked on a national UK and Ireland tour in 2024, kicking off at the Palace Theatre this July and touring up until July 2025. Read on for our review of the musical Hairspray at Manchester Palace Theatre.
Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway back in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production then opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won four Laurence Olivier Awards including ‘Best New Musical’. Following the musical’s phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which featured a star-studded cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron and James Marsden.
The story of Hairspray
Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. The timeless story of Hairspray says welcome to the 60s and centres around heroine Tracy Turnblad, who has big hair, a big heart, and big dreams to dance her way onto TV dance programme The Corny Collins Show, and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin.
When Tracy becomes a local star, she is able to use her newfound fame to fight for liberation, tolerance, and interracial unity in Baltimore. But can she win equality – and Link’s heart – without denting her ‘do?
The talented cast
Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby makes her professional debut as Tracy Turnblad in this production of Hairspray and she is a breath of fresh air on stage. With the likes of Ricki Lake and Nikki Blonsky taking on the role of Tracy in the films, some might say she had big shoes to fill, however Emmerson-Kirby makes the role her own. The connection she had with Neil Hurst (who plays mother Edna Turnblad) was heart-warming, especially during the song Welcome To The 60s as they leave Mr Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway donning fancy, 60s patterned dresses together.
As much as the song Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now touches on how some of the girls in the story (Tracy, Amber Von Tussle and Penny Pingleton) are all grown up, it is still the case that mother knows best in this performance. The actors who played mothers Motormouth Maybelle, Edna Turnblad and Velma Von Tussle certainly shined bright in this production.
Michelle Ndegwa as Motormouth Maybelle hit all the high notes during her song Big, Blonde and Beautiful, an empowering number encouraging Edna to embrace her larger frame, which gave the audience chills and followed with applause after applause. Also, her performance of I Know Where I’ve Been, which saw Motormouth come together with her children (as well as adopted ones like Tracy) as they prepare to fight the good fight for integration on The Corny Collins Show, was super emotive and blew me away.
Every story has to have a villain and in Hairspray it’s Velma Von Tussle. Taking on the Cruella de Vil with a beehive role was Gina Murray, who even received the odd boo from the audience for her villainous vibes. These came through the most during her solo Miss Baltimore Crabs and the choice of lighting really lent itself to the song and character as the stage lit up crimson red.
As for Neil Hurst, his performance as Edna was excellent and drew similarities to Divine in the 1988 film. The lines from Edna featured a good helping of euphemisms (definitely more than I remember in the films when I was young), especially during the scene with song You’re Timeless To Me with on stage partner Wilbur Turnblad (Dermot Canavan). There had to be some ad-libbing during this cheeky yet sweet scene between the couple in response to the chuckles from the adult members of the audience – breaking down the fourth wall in a effortless way.
Costumes and dance in Hairspray
Now, when it comes to Hairspray, we cannot not talk about the costumes and dancing. The performance featured a bold mix of colourful costumes that portrayed the swinging 60s as a fun, psychedelic and bright time for change.
The costumes really told a story in this show as towards the end of the performance, when all the dancers integrated on The Corny Collins Show, they were all wearing colourful suits and dresses together. And as the show’s protagonist and driver for change, Tracy shone bright in a sparkly dress.
Moreover, the dancing was absolutely incredible – featuring 60s moves like The Madison, as well as grooves from the Black community and awesome back flips, to create the perfect mix. One thing to note was how the dancing of character Penny (Tracy’s best friend played by Freya McMahon) evolved as she became more comfortable in who she is and what she wants, such as Seaweed (Motormouth Maybelle’s son played by Reece Richards) to become an interracial couple. It’s worth recognising that it is definitely a lot harder to dance awkwardly and less rhythmically as a professional dancer and McMahon did a great job here.
Although Hairspray takes place in 1962 when there was segregation, unrealistic beauty standards and prejudice, the themes remain relevant and still ring true today that we are stronger as one. If I was to describe what to expect from Hairspray at Manchester Palace Theatre in three words they would be – ‘boogieing’, ‘blowouts’ and ‘[just] beautiful’. Hairspray is a feel good show that will have you jiving all the way home.
Fancy going to see Hairspray in Manchester after our review? The musical is being performed at Manchester’s Palace Theatre until July 27 and tickets can be purchased here.