Lyric Theatre - Star City, Sydney. Saturday 16th July 2011. Starring Trevor Ashley as Edna Turnblad, Jaz Flowers as Tracy Turnblad, Grant Piro as Wilbur Turnblad, Scott Irwin as Corny Collins, Marney McQueen as Velma von Tussle, Michael Snell as Link Larkin, Esther Hannaford as Penny Pingleton, Renee Armstrong as Amber von Tussle, Cle Morgan as Motormouth Maybelle, Tevin Campbell as Seaweed J. Stubbs and Elenoa Rokobaro as Inez.
This show was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Seriously, like I'm still at a loss for words of how to do it justice.
The first thing you should know about the Australian production is that it is a non-replica production. It's completely new and as far as I can tell it doesn't follow the original much in terms of staging. Instead of sets, this production uses projectors to create the setting and backdrops. They constantly change, going from the streets of Baltimore to the night sky and worked seamlessly. It's a very '21st century' piece of theatre, using pre-recorded footage [You're Timeless To Me turns into a dream sequence like the movie] and television footage from the 1960s to tell the story as well as the digital projections. But when you think that the use of computers as such an integral part of the show could cause problems, this was not the case at all. The show went off without a hitch.
The whole cast was absolutely brilliant; no one was sub par at all. Jaz Flowers as Tracy was amazing. I saw her in Fame last year, which wasn't a show that I really enjoyed but she was brilliant in that as well. Her voice was just flawless and she was such a great Tracy Turnblad! I saw Michael Snell, the understudy, for Link but I thought he was great. Trevor Ashley was a brilliant Edna - You're Timeless To Me literally stopped the show when both of them couldn't stop laughing during the encore. But I have to say a highlight for me was Esther Hannaford as Penny. I could not stop laughing every time she was on stage and her voice was incredible.
I love Hairspray, it was one of my favourite musicals for a while and seeing it live was awesome after listening to both soundtracks and watching the movie countless times. Highlights for me were Mama I'm A Big Girl Now (I hate that it isn't in the movie!), Welcome To The 60s (the staging was absolutely amazing), I Know Where I've Been (just amazing) and of course You Can't Stop The Beat.
This was an amazing piece of musical theatre, and I was very proud to think that it was an all-new Australian production. I really can't say a lot more besides amazing, amazing, amazing. Go and see it.
