Spectacular! Spectacular!

On Friday I was lucky enough to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert the musical again, the second time in the past six months. This musical is one of the best I have ever seen; you can't help but feel good when you walk out of the theatre at the end.




Based on the 1994 Australian film starring Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp (http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi8978713/), it follows three drag queens as they travel from Sydney to Alice Springs. Priscilla is just one of the best musicals, not for everyone but amazing none the less, I love it. It was a bit touch and go at one point though when the bus broke down but it was only a minor hitch. Ben Richards is so good as Tick, he has an amazing voice. When we saw it this time they had Alf from Home and Away as Bob. All the actors are amazing and work really hard it is just a fantastic show.


The way I feel after I've seen Priscilla is the same as when I saw Hairspray you can't help but be dancing out of the aisles with a massive smile on your face.


I love musicals, I have seen many on stage including Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Wicked, Legally Blonde, Grease and Sister Act, to name but a few. On stage musicals are just fantastic, the films are great but you can beat watching someone on stage singing their hearts out to a packed out theatre.


My love of musicals started young, from Disney to my all time favourite The Wizard of Oz. You can beat the musicals from the Hollywood golden era, you can say a lot about MGM but they knew how to do an amazing musical. As much as I love the classics there have been some fantastic new ones Moulin Rouge, was a cinematic treat, so opulent and colourful after each song I had to stop myself clapping away in the cinema.


Over Christmas I saw Burlesque, which although it didn't receive very good reviews I thought it was fantastic. The songs were all written for the film and were great, I suppose the fact that Christina Aguilera was the music producer probably had something to do with that.
There have been musicals that have left me a little flat, I saw the film Rent and wasn't convinced. Although I did see a DVD of the last ever Broadway performance and thought that was a lot better. Fame I have seen twice on stage and the classic film but I thought it was just strange. It doesn't really have a story and although the songs are good, the story isn't.


The only problem I have now is what to see next. Dirty Dancing? Ghost? Mamma Mia? Or The Lion King? Decisions, decisions...... but then again there is always Priscilla.

Hairspray, The Mayflower, Southampton, 12th May 2010

Welcome to the 60’s! Hairspray is a feel good musical with a serious theme at its heart. Set in 1962 in Baltimore, it tells the story of Tracy Turnbland; a big girl with big hair and even bigger dreams, to dance on the prime time Corny Collins Show. After a fantastic run at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, Hairspray has now hit the road and visited the Mayflower in Southampton, where it stays until the 29th May.


When Tracy wins a spot on the local TV dance programme 'The Corny Collins Show', she is transformed overnight from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the programme's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray!

The atmosphere in the theatre was just electric, with laughs, singing and dancing you can’t help but dance down the aisles when you leave. The songs are sing-a-long treats, favourites include Welcome to the 60’s, Run and tell that and the brilliant You Can’t Stop the Beat. The humour is suitable for kids and adults alike, with all the jokes getting a laugh from at least one group.

At the heart of the musical is quite a serious theme of racial segregation in 60’s America. For example the television station only allows Negro day once a month, much to the dismay of Tracy. The so called race music is also seen as a bad influence on the teenagers, the film is set at a time when teenagers were coming into their own and causing trouble for their parents.

If you are a fan of the 1988 John Waters film than you will love the musical, as it is based on the film but with added songs. The core story is exactly the same for the two films and the stage musicals. If you are still unsure check out the 2007 film starring John Travolta, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah. It features most of the songs although The New Girl in Town does not feature in the on stage most of the others do. However, the stage version does have extra songs including Big Dollhouse and Mama I’m a Big Girl Now.

The cast included Michael Ball as Tracy’s mother Edna and Les Dennis as her husband Wilbur. The pair is a fantastic match and have tremendous chemistry. However, this did mean that they couldn’t hold it together for their duet Timeless to Me, which ended in a fit of giggles from the pair. Ball commented that he couldn’t continue with Dennis jiggling behind, to which Dennis replied ‘you never complained before’, the crowd loved it and the laughter raised the roof. Michael Ball is fantastic as Edna, a role he played on the West End and won countless awards for.

A special mention has to go to Sandra Marvin who plays Motormouth Maybelle, her glass breaking voice was simply breathtaking during I Know Where I’ve Been, so much so the cast even looked at her with admiration in their eyes. The young cast comprised of Amber (Clare Halse), Tracy (Laurie Scarth), Seaweed (Wayne Robinson), Inez (Seliza Sebastian), Link (Liam Doyle) and Penny (Emma Dukes), all of which are amazing performers who are bound to go on to even greater things. Liam Doyle who plays Link won a GMTV competition to play Troy in High School Musical; I think a few fans were in the crowd as he was met with a host of screams.

I love Hairspray it is one of my favourite musicals, it is a feel good and happy musical. I saw the tour in London with the original West End cast and thought that the tour cast was just as good as the originals. Hairspray is the type of musical I can watch again, and again. I defy you to leave the theatre without a massive smile on your face. Just remember ‘you can’t stop the beat’.

For more information on the tour visit the website at: http://www.hairspraythetour.com/