I loved the original film version of Hairspray so was very excited to go and see the musical but I was very disappointed. The musical is based very closely on the film with very few changes to the story of Tracy Turnblad as a teenager who loves to dance and against all odds due to her larger size lives her dream of dancing on the Corry Collins show. There is of course a love story thrown in and a beauty queen bully who does all she can to destroy Tracey's chance for fame, love and happiness. I love the story, the music and dancing but found the stage version of this classic to be unpolished and amateurish in its performance. I didn't feel that any of the cast were very strong in dancing, singing or acting and was shocked at such a weak performance on a West End stage. The choreography was often messy and the baking dancers seemed to be all over the place. The leading cast members were weak vocally and didn't have the necessary stage presence for the West End stage. I am a huge fan of West End musicals and see as many as I can, I am generally amazed by the high quality and often see show's several times. However, I felt that Hairspray was a waste of both my time and money. I wouldn't recommend this musical to anyone, if you loved the film then I think you will find the musical very disappointing. If this had been a small local production I might have been impressed but this is not the quality I would expect from such a big show.