"Hairspray"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

One of my favourite feel-good musicals travels from Baltimore to Nottingham bringing along with it some wonderfully memorable songs along with a few serious messages about segregation, class, body image and racism. These subjects depict the language and opinions of the time; that time being 1962.

We welcome you to the Sixties and bid Good Morning Baltimore where we meet the Nicest Kids In Town, well some are nicer than others.

Our hero Tracy Turnblad is a massive fan of The Corny Collins Show and wants to be a dancer on the show. She auditions and just when she thinks all is lost, her big personality, big heart and big hair, wins the day. She also finds love and makes many new friends into the bargain.

Tracy is a pioneer for breaking down the barriers of racism, changing attitudes and opinions. Serious stuff but delivered in a bouncy, pink and fluffy way, which makes sure that the message is received in an easily digested, sugar-coated pill.

Tracy Turnblad is played by Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby, instead of the advertised Katie Brace; not the only understudy on stage tonight. That said Alexandra shows a personality as big as Tracy's hair and really belts those big songs out.

It seems that on opening night in Nottingham, it was the night of The Understudy. This could explain why the show started fifteen minutes late.

Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mom, is played by Neil Hurst. I've seen many actors play Edna, and everyone is different, bringing a bit of the actor's personality to the role, and in the way they play this role. This is a role that stands out, who ever plays the part, and I've seen Michael Ball and Michael Starke slip the dress on to play Edna. Neil makes the role his.

Wilbur Turnblad, Tracy's easy going dad, is played by Stuart Hickey, the understudy for Dermot Canavan. Stuart was great as the joke shop owner and did a wonderful version of "Timeless To Me" with Neil Hurst.

Penny Pingleton, Tracy’s best friend, is played by Nina Bell on opening night, Nina being the understudy for Freya McMahon. Nina was brilliant, and that change from bespectacled, gangly teenager to the gorgeous dancer at the end was a real transformation. One of my favourite roles in the play because she brings such a comedy element to the musical. Nina has one of those very pure voices that could cut glass.

Seaweed, Penny's crush turned boyfriend is played by Jaiden Lodge, understudy to Reece Richards. A good mover and a good voice. He pulls out the taboo sex appeal for Penny with "Blacker the Berry", highlighting both moves and voice.

Seaweed's little sister, Little Inez, is played by Katlo. What a ball of energy this young woman is; a real pocket rocket. Light that touch paper and watch her explode on stage. Great energy.

Corny Collins is played by Declan Egan. Another brilliant character role, and an excuse to look and sound as corny as the name. Declan took full advantage with winks to the audience and a brilliantly cheesy grin.

Velma Von Tussle is played by Kirsty Sparks, understudy to Joanne Clifton. Velma is a great role for an actress to play, and Kirsty was deliciously nasty and over-protective of her daughter, and I think that you could see just what glee Kirsty got from playing this role. It also takes a solid actor to understudy for a professional dancer like Joanne, but the dancing was superb, especially during the "Miss Baltimore Crabs" section. The voice was nice and powerful without belting also.

Velma's daughter, Amber Von Tussle is played by Issie Wilman, understudy to Allana Taylor. I loved Issie's performance of the bolshy, controlling, attitude fuelled "girlfriend" of Link Larkin.

Heartthrob Link Larkin is played by Olly Manley, understudy for Solomon Davy. There was less of the arrogance in this character than I had seen in the past, which in one way made the character instantly more connectable. A good-looking young man who also has a very versatile voice. You really warm to Link from the start when he starts to see Tracy for the person she is inside and not what the others see externally. Another really good voice and some hip shakin' dance moves.

Motormouth Mama Maybelle, is played by Michelle Ndegwa. What a voice this woman has!! Her solo ballad, "I Know Where I've Been" immediately sent tingles up and down my spine, and her belting "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" shows the range that Michelle has in her voice.

A brilliant supporting cast who also exhibit enormous amounts of energy levels in this fast-paced show. having seen "Hairspray" several times, it still surprises me when the interval comes around. probably because I am loving the show that much!

A special mention must be made for Jacob Smith, who played IQ, and Joseph Bristow who came on as Understudy for Fender, another one of Corny Collins' dancers, for their characterisation and energy put into their dance routines. They really stood out for me.

The trio of girl singers were also incredibly good, their harmonies were spot on and really brought that Motown/soul sound to life.

Brenda Edwards, who played Motormouth when "Hairspray" last came to the Nottingham Theatre Royal, makes her Directorial debut in this production. If anyone knows how this production should look and sound like, Brenda should, and it's nice to see that the pace is all there. One thing that I noticed that Brenda may have changed was that, near the end where the popularity poll with Amber and Tracy is, Amber loses out - nothing different there - but so does Tracy! Instead Little Inez is the star of the popularity contest, really turning it on its' head, and showing support for non-segregation. A nice touch!

Choreography is by Drew McOnie, and again someone responsible for the pace of the show, whether it is the Presley-esque mic stand grinding of "It Takes Two" or the hundred mile an hour "You Can't Stop the Beat", this musical is packed with many brilliantly choreographed pieces.

The set and costume design are by Takis. The costumes are wonderful and I love the vibrant suits for the male dancers; oranges, greens, purples. reds, so much colour. A fairly stripped down set where the platforms for the homes of the three main roles are wheeled on and off when needed.

Ben Atkinson has arranged the score and is Musical Supervisor and Richard Atkinson is the Musical Director. A wonderful live band who stormed through the many well-known songs for this show, "I Can Hear The Bells", "Without Love", "Mama I'm A Big Girl Now", "You Can't Stop The Beat", "Good Morning Baltimore", "Welcome To The Sixties", and the earworms go on.....

The lighting design is by Phillip Gladwell and this area really blends in with the vibrancy of the costumes, making the scenes almost like an advert for The United Colours Of Bennetton - remember that one?

Sound design by Ben Harrison. Crystal clear sound which was mixed well for the vocals and band, who were positioned above the stage area.

The wigs, hair and make up design is down to Craig Forrest-Thomas. These really bring the era to the fore; there's no way that you could mistake this for any other timeline with the swept back hair for the men and those wonderful bouffainted styles for the women.

Projection design is by George Reeve. Most of this was perfect, and I do like to see projections as a backdrop as it means that the scenes can be changed quick and easy and without having to move lots of stage props and scenery away; it keeps a show full of pace. There were some sections of the projection though that were very blurry and out of focus, which should have been picked up on in the tech run (this may also have been a reason for the quarter of an hour late start, who knows?). I initially thought that I may have been wearing my reading glasses instead of my normal glasses, but no, I had come out with my correct glasses. That said, the majority of the projections were really very good.

Ok, now this is something that only a music geek like myself would spot.

In Motormouth's Record Shop, there were obviously going to be records and record sleeves. The year is 1962 and there were four record sleeves in full view. The first was the soundtrack to a film called "Black Joy" which was released in 1977. I am almost positive that the Four Tops album was on the Music For Pleasure label, a label that was not set up until 1965, the album was not released until the 1970's and the Four Tops did not release any records under their own name until 1965, the other two albums were also not released until after 1962. Apologies for the geekiness knowledge and I bet no one else spotted this, and why should they?

Anyway, there's no taking away from this musical that it's a fun filled powerhouse of a musical with some great messages, maybe a little out of date, but nevertheless, fantastic fun and a sizzling sixties feel soundtrack that will have you dancing out of the theatre.

I do wonder though why there were thirteen changes to the cast on opening night. Maybe the bus delivering them were stuck in one of the many sets of Nottingham roadworks, or they had fallen into one of the areas potholes and are waiting to be rescued for tomorrow night's performance.

“Hairspray” is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 9 November.