HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL - YOU JUST CANT STOP THE BEAT (Hairspray)

Member Name: Laluhen

Product:	Hairspray
Date:	17/05/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: HIGH ENERGY, GREAT SONGS, FABULOUS DANCING

Disadvantages: NONE

For anyone who loves or even likes musicals, Hairspray is a must see musical. It is high energy, fast paced, superbly acted - it is a musical treat for the eyes and ears.

For those that have not seen or heard of Hairspray, the basic premise of the film/show taken from Hairspray the Musical official website is; 'Its 1962 and times are changing, Tracys one passion is to dance, she wins a spot on the Corny Collins Show and overnight is transformed from an outsider to teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion, vanquish the programes reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show, without denting her do? Only in hairspray! Welcome to the 60's!'

I am a huge fan of musicals and so is my 7 year old daughter, i have loved the film Hairspray since i saw the original film starring Ricky Lake, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono and Divine, i found it to be a wonderful film, the songs, the dancing all captured the essence of musical. My daughter discovered the joys of Hairspray from watching the film remake starring John Travolta, and the kids favourite Zac Efron (from High School Musical fame), this film was just as good as the original and brought to life the musical for a whole new generation.
So from my passion for the film and my daughters, i decided to purchase tickets for her 7th birthday treat. I purchased a vip package with seats in the box, interval drinks and programmes, the seat tickets themselves probably worked out at about £40 each, they gave us a discount as it was for a birthday. The actual ticket prices in the theatre range from £22.50-£62.50. As much as we enjoyed the show i would not purchase a box again, as the view is obstructed so you miss parts of the show, although you can hear what is going on, you cannot see, so you feel as though you are missing out, with this said, the show was still amazing. From looking online there are deals to be had on tickets, and from going to many theatres over the years there are actually very few poor seats, even in the circles the seats are still good and the ticket prices for these are considerably cheaper than the stalls.

From where we were sitting you were so close to the stage, you could see so much even the tiny microphones attached to the performers hair, the show is so vibrant and energetic, and it follows the film storyline almost perfectly, whereas shows like grease are altered considerably, although it has the same outline as the film it is adapted alot for the stage. Link Larkin is a heartthrob to all the young, my daughter and her friend thought he was amazing and when he waved to them that was just the icing on the cake. The songs are amazing, so full of life, all of them, i guarantee you will be singing or humming along when you leave.

During the musical the cast interact with the audience, they appear throughout the stalls, popping up near the front row, and running through the theatre to get to the stage, this interaction brings the show to life, the Shaftsbury theatre like most in London are very intimate, and no matter where you are seated it feels as if they are performing just for you. Leanne Jones who plays Tracy is full of life and makes the performance her own, Ben James Ellis who plays Link Larkin is the perfect heartthrob, his performance brings out everything that Link is about, Verity Rushworth (Donna from Emmerdale) who plays Tracys friend Penny, is amazing, i never would have thought it, after playing Donna that she could transform into this ditsy, funny and loveable character who has an amazing voice and good comic timing, Nigel Planer who plays Wilbur is so funny and amazing, and his interaction with the star of the show Michael Ball who plays Edna, Tracys mum, is fabulous, they have perfect comic timng, they work together really well, there chemistry was magnificent. Michael Ball steas the show for all the older viewers, he is a professional of the highest calibre, everytime he came onto the stage everyone applauded, for the youngest the stars are Link and Tracy obviously as they do not really know who Michael Ball is and what he has acheived in musical theatre, to anyone wanting to go i would advise you to go and see the show before Michael Ball leaves in July.

As for parking at the theatre, Hairspray haved teamed up with the ncp carpark and have a carpark right next door to the theatre, we always drive into London, so i cannot comment on any other forms of transport, we always make going to london a special day out, although we do live fairly near so it is not much of issue to drive into London for us.

As for purchasing merchandise at the theatre, i always do, whether its a programme, t-shirt for my daughter etc, just budget this into your costs before you go, i have taken sweets in with me before as they can be quite expensive, the staff on the theatre door were doing security checks at the time and searching bags, i dont think they were searching for sweets as they never mentioned them.

Just go and see this musical, you wont come away dissapointed.

Summary: YOU CANT STOP THE BEAT