Tuesday night saw my friend and I back at The Little Theatre to watch the KPAOS production of Hairspray with its lovely cast spanning a range of ages. It was also great to see so many people in the audience for opening night of a sold out run.

This musical seems very pertinent at the moment with more and more bigotry in the real world so it was lovely to see the storyline of a successful bridging of division using music and dance and the cast did it with energy and feeling.

With such a large cast director Joshua Taylor-Williams had his hands full however the finished production didn’t ever feel too ‘busy’ on stage. It helped that he had a fab principles cast who were obviously enjoying themselves. The band, led by Reece Crane were also great to listen to although, on a few occasions the singers were overwhelmed by the music but this will hopefully set itself right as the show goes on.

The principle characters were all settled well into their roles although, at times, the sound issues meant that we lost a punchline or the meaning of a song. This is a shame as it left me feeling a little unfinished at times. Talking of punchlines though – a special mention needs to go to Natasha Ann Carr. Her portrayal of Penny Pingleton had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Her comedic timing and physicality really lent into the role causing the audience to chuckle throughout the show.

The show centres around young teen Tracy Turnblad who strives for inclusion – not just for herself but for everyone regardless of body shape or colour of skin – and she manages this by bucking the trend of 1960s segregated tv. Ellie Barratt’s portrayal of Tracy is sensitive and confident but at times a little difficult to hear which saddened me as I am sure she can wow in this role if the levels can be corrected – especially as her onstage partnership with Penny are what brings some of the joy into the show.

Tracy has watched the Corny Collins show on her family’s black and white TV and developed a crush on one of the headlining young lads in the show – Link Larkin (Jude Major) – and, as she fortuitously finds herself on the show, she and Link start to form a relationship – much to the chagrin of Link’s former girlfriend Amber Von Tussle (Rosie Chalmers). Major’s performance as Link is assured and strong. He manages to portray the cockiness of a young man vying for his big break as a singer whilst he struggles with the conflict of wanting to stand beside Tracy in her bid for inclusivity and kindness. Every so often, the “turn to camera” posing from Major, even when the cameras weren’t rolling, made me smile. The stuffiness and nastiness that oozed from Chalmers performance completed the trio in the love triangle.

The scene between Tracy’s mum Edna (Matt Brown) and dad Wilbur (Alex Thompson) added even more humour to the show and it was fun to watch as they broke the fourth wall to bring the audience ‘panto-style’  even further into their relationship but, once again, some of the punchlines didn’t quite hit their mark. I am putting this down to some of the first night issues that will hopefully be eradicated as the run continues.

All in all though, despite some of the sound and diction issues, it is a fun show to watch and I am confident that the sold out audiences at the end of the run will have a wonderful time.

Hairspray runs at the Little Theatre until Saturday 22nd November.
Gifted tickets for an honest review and photos courtesy of Poyner & Mee.