Review: Hairspray at Theatre Royal

After seeing Hairspray at Theatre Royal Nottingham, I left with the biggest smile on my face!  The show is incredibly feel-good, with some outstanding performances throughout.

As soon as the show opened, and the first song began, the auditorium – which was packed with families, couples and groups of friends – was buzzing. We were instantly met with bright colourful lighting, glitter and beaming faces, and this was pretty much the case from start to finish.

Although the musical addresses the very significant and serious matter of racial equality in the early 60s, it still manages to deliver lots of comic moments. Matt Rixon as Edna Turnblad provides a lot of the show’s funniest parts.  His performance of You're Timeless to Me as a duet with onstage husband, Wilbur (award-winning comedian Norman Pace) had the audience in stitches. Rixon and Pace end up cracking up and breaking out of character during the duet, which was hilarious to watch unfold.

The dancing was amazing throughout the whole show, and energy just radiated from every single cast member. Seaweed, who was played by Layton Williams completely smashed it out the park when it came to his dancing!  He flipped, bounced and grooved across the entire stage.

Brenda Edwards as Motormouth Maybelle was incredible – her voice is so powerful, and her performance of I Know Where I’ve Been proved just how much an incredibly emotional performance she can give. Many members of the audience, myself included, gave Brenda a very much deserved standing ovation following her performance of the song. 

I would encourage everybody to see Hairspray – including those who consider themselves not to be musical fans.  It’s fun, vibrant and energetic, and thoroughly warms the heart.

Hairspray is on at Theatre Royal Nottingham until Saturday 24 February.

This blog was written by Alex Broughton, Marketing Manager at Visit Nottinghamshire.