HAIRSPRAY, EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE ****
With one of the most upbeat opening numbers in musical theatre, Hairspray never fails to lift the spirits from the very start. This fresh new production, directed by Paul Kerryson and Hairspray ‘royalty’ Brenda Edwards, best loved for her portrayal of Motormouth Maybelle in previous productions, is no different – a timely high energy, all singing, all dancing celebration of integration and acceptance.
That opening number, Good Morning Baltimore, is afforded additional, if unintentional, comedy value on opening night courtesy of a dodgy uncontrollable radio-controlled rat that survives three attempts by the chorus to surreptitiously kick it off stage before having to be rescued by a stagehand.
Front-loaded with cracking numbers like the deftly staged Mama I’m A Big Girl Now and I Can Hear The Bells, in which a lovestruck Tracy Turnblad, played by Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby, is quite perfect. Hairspray tells the story of big-hearted Tracy and her friends, the spirited Seaweed, his sister Little Inez and his mother, the resolute record store owner Motormouth Maybelle, as they strive to change a world where segregation is the norm, inter-racial relationships are unthinkable and integration a concept to be resisted at all costs.
As Tracy fights for the right of her friends to dance together on The Corny Collins Show, falling in love with the shows heartthrob Link Larkin along the way, so the show’s producer Velma Von Tussle, a nicely waspish turn form the ever so supple Joanne Clifton, determines to foil her at every step of the way.
As is tradition, Tracy’s mum, Edna Turnblad, is played by a man and in this production bringing the larger than life character to the stage falls to Neil Hurst who takes Edna back to her origins, channelling the strangely feminine gruffness of the late, great Divine, originator of the role in John Waters 1988 cult film. Hurst proves a loving, maternal presence and together with Dermot Canavan as Wilbur Turnblad, shares the comedy highlight of the night – the pair deliver You’re Timeless To Me, with brilliant comic timing.
Together, Hurst, Canavan and Emmerson-Kirby make as magnificent a Turnblad family unit as you are likely to see, sharing a wonderfully loving chemistry. Emmerson-Kirby herself is a force of nature.
Elsewhere, Michelle Ndegwa proves a powerful Motormouth Mabel, while Solomon Davy is a smooth Link Larkin. Unusually for a press night, two understudies, Joseph Bristow and Shemar Jarrett, and a swing, Ryan Appiah-Sarpong, also take to the stage as the Corny Collins, Seaweed, and Gilbert respectively – all equip themselves adequately in the roles.
With Takis’ highly coloured set and costume design and Drew McOnie’s energetic, expressive choreography, watching this production of Hairspray is at times like watching a glorious living cartoon, never more so than when Stuart Hickey and Kirsty Sparks are on stage as various Male and Female Authority Figures. However, cartoon-like they may be, but these characters have real heart.
Waters’ films are always subversive in nature and that is reflected in Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan’s sharp and to the point book and again in Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman’s lyrics which are occasionally inappropriate and equally hilarious.
It seems that 22 years after it first premiered, where Hairspray is concerned, there’s just no stopping the beat.
Hairspray runs at Edinburgh Playhouse until 12 October. Tickets here.
Full tour dates and tickets here.
