1960s Baltimore has come to the Edinburgh Playhouse this week with the hit Broadway and West-End musical ‘Hairspray’, playing until Saturday 12th October. The story follows Tracy Turnblad, as she rises to fame as a dancer on The Corny Collins show. With a body and nature that breaks the norm, Tracy uses her platform to encourage racial integration. Yet her radical beliefs find her battling to remain on the show and out of prison.
The cast of this production of ‘Hairspray’ is made up of newcomers and musical theatre stalwarts. Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby makes her professional theatre debut as Tracy Turnblad, bringing superb vocals, brilliant dance skill and a hearty persona to this big haired iconic character. Featuring as Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad, Neil Hurst is utterly hilarious, bringing a truly brilliant portrayal of this comic character with such energy, Neil has the audience in the palm of his hands. Dermot Canavan joins Neil on stage as Edna’s husband, Wilbur Turnblad, the duo are a brilliant dynamic especially during their duet ‘You’re Timeless to Me’. Dermot brings a joyous and quirky energy to Wilbur which is so much fun to watch.
Joanne Clifton is almost unrecognizable as Velma Von Tussle; she takes on this villainous role gloriously. Tackling the tricky choreography with ease and delivering killer vocals, especially during ‘Miss Baltimore Crabs’, this is a fantastic performance from Joanne. Accompanying Joanne on stage as Velma’s daughter, Amber Von Tussle, is Allana Taylor who brings more comical nuance to the character rather than just a villain, still taking on the choreography in The Corny Collins Show segments with great skill and notable vocals in numbers such as ‘Cooties’. The pair make great antagonists in this musical.
Michelle Ndegwa is utterly sublime as Motormouth Maybelle. Michelle’s raw emotion and stunning vocals in ‘I Know Where I’ve Been’ is simply incredible and gains her a standing ovation before the curtain call – which is rarely seen in UK theatres. With warmth, humor and passion laced throughout this portrayal you can’t help but love her performance. Completing the Maybelle clan is Shemar Jarrett (covering Reece Richards) as Seaweed and Katlo as Little Inez. Shemar is undoubtedly one of the strongest dancers in this company, tackling choreo with ease and great energy, at points it did seem that Shemar struggled vocally during this performance, however he still brings a comical, flirtatious and charismatic Seaweed to this production. Katlo’s supporting performance of Little Inez is joyous to watch, with such light, humour and brilliant vocals, the audience instantly roots for her thanks to Katlo’s openness.
Freya McMahon as Penny Pingleton brings us a quirky and geeky version of Tracy’s best friend. Freya supplies the character with the punchy vocals needed in ‘Without Love’ and ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’. Audience members almost do a double take at Penny’s transformation during the latter number, this is a fun portrayal from Freya. Solomon Davy is fantastic as Link Larkin. Solomon takes Link’s at points cringey and cheesy dialogue, adding flare to it, hitting the comedic and also the flirtatious notes of the character, letting the dialogue land in a way which works to swoon members of the audience. This radiates in numbers such as ‘It Takes Two’ and ‘Without Love’, where not only are we given the nuance of the character but also terrific performances vocally. This is one of the best portrayals of Link to tour the UK.
Joseph Bristow (covering Declan Egan) as Corny Collins brings us humor and pizazz as the 60s TV show host. At points Joseph’s portrayal did feel it could have more energy to lift scenes and perhaps let the humor land more successfully, however mostly it was a fun and fitting performance.
This production features a great ensemble who take on a multitude of characters and consistently tackle heavily choreographed numbers with so much energy. The ensemble are as follows; Stuart Hickey, Kirsty Sparks, Ben Anderson, Grace Anyiam, Nina Bell, Vanessa Dumatey, Rebecca French, Marcellus Hill, Ryan Appiah-Sarpong, Jáiden Lodge, Olly Manley, Sasha Monique, Jacob Smith, Issie Wilman, Shaniquah Notice-Morris (Swing) and Emily Ann Potter (Swing).
Paul Kerryson and Brenda Edwards direct this production of ‘Hairspray’. Whilst it’s clear the directors wished to retain the original direction style of the noughties production, this vision is looking tired and outdated at points. With this it seems like the themes and issues surrounding the civil rights movement has been breezed over and is not as prominent or emphasized as previous tours of the same production. Character journeys also seem glanced over as well, with characters changing instantly with no slow development throughout the musical. Whilst this is a fun, cheesy musical, there has always been some form of depth to the overall subtext of the show and in this production this seems absent. There is the question whether the 2021 London production’s amendments could have been utilized to bring a more modern vision to the musical.
It’s understandable that the show is on it’s fifth tour, therefore it needs to be scaled down, however the set from Takis relies heavily on George Reeve’s projection design, which ultimately downgrades the quality of the production. Professional productions relying on projections with minimal physical set works if it fits the overall setting and style of the musical, however it doesn’t quite fit the 1960s setting of ‘Hairspray’, and does lower the visual appeal of the overall production. A smaller physical set would be more suited to this production. Takis’ costume design is the main visual appeal of the production, bursting with colour and elevated styling which perfectly encapsulates the characters. Philip Gladwell’s lighting design amplifies the colour and tone of each scene, lifting the projection design to make it seem more immersive.
Ben Atkinson’s musical arrangement is sublime with the iconic musical numbers sounding spectacular. Drew McOnie’s choreography compliments these musical numbers bringing so much energy and stunning movement to the stage.
Overall, ‘Hairspray’ is a fun, bright and bombastic musical, featuring a great cast and the musical numbers that audiences know and love. Yet the story of the struggles during the civil rights movement seems side tracked, along with character journeys not playing out as well rounded as previous productions.
Get tickets to see ‘Hairspray’ here – https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/hairspray-the-musical/edinburgh-playhouse/
Theatre Scotland 
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