hairspray uk tour 2023

Hairspray UK Tour

Hairspray the Musical UK Tour returns in 2024!  Initial dates have been announced… Sign up to our touring alerts and we'll let you know when tickets go on sale.

HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL TOUR - 2024 / 2025 DATES & TICKETS

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YOU CAN'T STOP THE BEAT - HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL IS BACK!

Smash-hit musical Hairspray is set to tour the UK and Ireland next year in a major new production co-directed by Brenda Edwards.

Brenda Edwards will make her directorial debut as she joins Paul Kerryson to direct the 2024/25 touring production alongside award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie.

The Loose Women panelist has previously played ‘Motormouth' Maybelle in three tours of Hairspray, as well as appearing We Will Rock You and Chicago.

Brenda Edwards said: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be invited by the producers to make my directorial debut on the show as a co-director with Paul Kerryson. Hairspray, and this production in particular, has been such a huge part of my life. The show’s story and themes are as relevant as ever and I cannot wait to hold the open auditions to discover a new cast and work together to present a vibrant new production of this timeless musical for everyone to enjoy.”

WHAT IS HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL ABOUT?

It’s Baltimore 1962, where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob Link Larkin along the way.

Hairspray  is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. With music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman  Hairspray  originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical and Best Performance in a Supporting Role.

Proving to be an international success, Hairspray has also opened in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Following the musical’s phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which starred John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden.

HAIRSPRAY UK TOUR - THE CAST & CREATIVE

*Joanne Clifton will join the cast from the  09 Sep .

Original Screenplay –  John Waters Book – Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan Composer/Co-Lyricist – Marc Shaiman Lyrics – Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman Directors – Paul Kerryson / Brenda Edwards Choreographer – Drew McOnie

WATCH THE VIDEO TRAILER FOR HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL!

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HAIRSPRAY – NEW UK & IRELAND TOUR ANNOUNCED – CO-DIRECTED BY BRENDA EDWARDS

⭐ HAIRSPRAY – NEW UK & IRELAND TOUR ANNOUNCED – CO-DIRECTED BY BRENDA EDWARDS ⭐

A new production of the award-winning musical HAIRSPRAY it set to tour the UK & Ireland, it has been announced.

Producers Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale and Laurence Myers are delighted to announce that Brenda Edwards, who has previously played “Motormouth” Maybelle in three tours of HAIRSPRAY, will join the creative team alongside Paul Kerryson to direct a new production of Hairspray which will embark on a major national UK and Ireland tour in 2024.

Choreographed by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie, the major national UK and Ireland tour will open in Manchester at the Palace Theatre on 16th July 2024 and tour through to July 2025.

Completing the creative team is set & costume Design by Takis, lighting design by Philip Gladwell, sound design by Ben Harrison, musical supervising & arrangement by Ben Atkinson, musical direction by Richard Atkinson, projection design by George Reeve, casting by Grindrod Burton and resident direction by Juliet Gough.

Open Auditions will be held in November 2023. Please visit the website for more details – hairsprayuktour.com

This iconic musical comedy featuring some of musical theatre’s best hit songs including Welcome To The 60s, You Can’t Stop The Beat and Good Morning Baltimore.

HAIRSPRAY has a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

Fabulous! ! !

Thoughts? X x x

The nation’s favourite musical is BACK BY PHENOMENAL DEMAND ⭐️ This time directed by the fabulous #PaulKerryson AND the incomparable @brenda_edwards with choreography by the wonderful @DrewMcOnie ⭐️ YOU CAN’T STOP OUR BEAT 💛 #HairsprayTour pic.twitter.com/7P7mJgoWzy — Hairspray UK Tour (@HairsprayUKTour) October 3, 2023

Tickets & more info – http://hairsprayuktour.com/

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Buy Hairspray tickets for the ultimate feel-good factor for all the family as this iconic musical returns to the West End

Michael Ball reprises the role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray at the London Coliseum next summer, as the upbeat story about dancing and equality runs for a limited season from 22nd June 2021.

Based on John Waters ‘ 1988 film, Hairspray follows Tracy Turnblad, a Baltimore teenager who dreams of dancing on her favourite television show. Her mother Edna is worried she’ll be bullied for her weight, but when Tracy’s moves make her a local celebrity, she uses her new-found fame to campaign for equality and representation.

With a catalogue of 60s inspired songs including “The Nicest Kids in Town” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat”, Hairspray is a fun and cheery musical about embracing your individuality, with a heart-warming mother-daughter relationship at its centre. The original Broadway production (2002) collected eight Tony Awards, with its West End transfer adding four Olivier Awards, including Best Actor in a Musical for Michael Ball .

Ball now returns to the role of Edna Turnblad, having gone on to win an Olivier Award for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . Before he gets out the big hair and heels for Hairspray , he was recently seen in the all-star concert production of Les Miserables .

Lizzie Bea will star in the iconic role of Tracy Tunblad. Lizzie is currently performing in the UK Tour of Kinky Boots after having returned from Atlanta, performing in the world premiere production of Becoming Nancy (Alliance Theatre).

Acclaimed West End star Marisha Wallace will take the role of Motormouth. Marisha won rave reviews when she took over from Amber Riley in the smash hit Dreamgirls (Savoy Theatre), and has just finished starring in the original West End cast of Waitress (Adelphi Theatre).

Entertainment legend Les Dennis will play Wilbur, replacing the previously announced Paul Merton who has had to step down from the production due to prior commitments. He is best known for hosting TV game show Family Fortunes for 15 years. His stage credits include Chicago, The Addams Family and Me and My Girl.

Also in the cast are Rita Simons (Eastenders) as Velma von Tussle, Jonny Amies (Sex Education) as Link Larkin , Mari McGinlay (Cinderella) as Penny, Ashley Samuels (Fun Home, Motown) as Seaweed, and Michael Vinsen (Follies, The Book of Mormon) as Corny Collins.

Hairspray features music and lyrics from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman , a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan , direction from Jack O’Brien ( The Full Monty ) and choreography by Jerry Mitchell ( Kinky Boots ).

Don’t miss out on Michael Ball ’s return to a beloved character and irresistibly feel-good musical. Hairspray runs at the London Coliseum from 22nd June 2021.

Please note: Michael Ball will not be performing on the following days: 20 July, 17 August and 14 September.

Child friendly?

Hairspray is a feel-good family show, but the exact minimum age recommendation has not yet been confirmed.

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Photos: Get a First Look at New Images of HAIRSPRAY on Tour

The tour will visit 45 cities in the 2023-24 touring season.

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award®-winning musical comedy phenomenon, kicked off its third touring season last night in Ottawa, Ontario at the National Arts Centre through Sunday, November 19. This new Non-Equity, North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O’Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will visit 45 cities in the 2023-24 touring season including premiere engagements in Calgary, AB; Charlotte, NC; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Edmonton, ALB; Houston, TX; Nashville, TN; Vancouver, BC and many more. The season will also feature return engagements in Boston, MA; San Antonio, TX; and St. Louis, MO, among others. 

See new photos below!   In the first two seasons of touring, HAIRSPRAY played in 118 cities, reaching 44 states and the District of Columbia. More than 886,000 audience members have experienced the “must-see production” (Spectrum News 1 Milwaukee) that is “as buoyant as its bouffants” (Boston Globe), full of “humor, heart and unstoppable energy” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) and quite simply, “Marvelous - and nearly miraculous” (Omaha World-Herald).   The cast is led by Greg Kalafatas as Edna Turnblad, Caroline Eiseman as Tracy Turnblad and Deidre Lang as Motormouth Maybelle. Joining them are Josiah Rogers as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Skyler Shields as Link Larkin, Ralph Prentice Daniel as Wilbur Turnblad, Andrew Scoggin as Corny Collins, Caroline Portner as Amber Von Tussle, Sarah Hayes as Velma Von Tussle, Scarlett Jacques as Penny Pingleton and Kaila Symone Crowder as Little Inez. Micah Sauvageau is Male Authority Figure, and Emmanuelle Zeesman is Female Authority Figure.   The ensemble consists of Abigail Bensman, Connor Buonaccorsi, Ashia Collins, Joshua James Crawford, Scoob Decker, Craig First, Audrey Taylor Floyd, Gavin Guthrie, Alyssa Jacqueline, Leiah Lewis, Christy Oberndorf, Kynnedi Moryaé Porter, Caroline Purdy, Kalab Quinn, Josiah Thomas Randolph, Amy Rodriguez, Scott Silagy, Cara Torchia, Lilliannie Arie Urgent, James Douglas Vinson and Gabriel Yarborough.   “It’s a brand-new world we find ourselves in today, and HAIRSPRAY is even more relevant than twenty years ago when it first burst onto the scene. With a whole new generation of wildly talented kids across the board, we cannot wait to raise the various roofs once more with dance, joy, music, and that glorious, famous, energy-packed score!” shared Director Jack O’Brien.   Choreographer Jerry Mitchell added, “HAIRSPRAY has always been about all of us dancing together! I am thrilled to welcome this NEW company of amazing #FULLOUT talents to lead the way as we dance across America with a message of inclusion and hope because ‘You really Can’t Stop the Beat!’”   HAIRSPRAY is the story of 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world? Featuring the beloved score of hit songs including “Welcome to the ’60s,” “Good Morning Baltimore,” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” HAIRSPRAY is “fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful!” (The New York Times).   HAIRSPRAY is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, who served as a creative consultant on the musical comedy. It features a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. HAIRSPRAY features an original score by Academy Award-nominated Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.   Additional creative team for HAIRSPRAY includes Tour Director Matt Lenz, Tour Choreographer Robbie Roby, Set Designer David Rockwell, Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner, Tour Lighting Designer Paul Miller, Costume Designer William Ivey Long, Hair and Wig Designers Paul Huntley and Bernie Ardia, Sound Designer Shannon Slaton, Music Supervisor Keith Thompson and Casting by Prather Productions.   HAIRSPRAY premiered at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater in June 2002. The show was a smash hit when it transferred to Broadway, winning eight 2003 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and became the longest-running musical to play the Neil Simon Theater, running 2,642 performances from July 18, 2002, until January 4, 2009. It is the 22nd longest running show in Broadway history.  

Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

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Hairspray UK Tour

Hairspray tour announces casting and further dates.

Run and Tell That!

Exclusive: A large portion of the casting and additional dates have been revealed for Hairspray the Musical, which will open on tour in Manchester at the Palace Theatre on 16 July 2024 and run through to April 2025.

Hairspray  alum Brenda Edwards ( We Will Rock You ) will make her directorial debut for the new mounting. Edwards, who has played the role of “Motormouth Maybelle” during three previous tours of Hairspray  will co-direct alongside Paul Kerryson ( Chicago ), with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s new artistic director Drew McOnie ( In the Heights ) serving as choreographer.

The cast will feature Neil Hurst (Edna Turnblad), Joanne Clifton and Gina Murray (Velma Von Tussle – with Murray performing the role from 16 July to 7 September only), Michelle Ndegwa (Motormouth Maybelle), Soloman Davy (Link Larkin), Declan Egan (Corny Collins), Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby (making her professional debut as Tracy Turnblad), Katlo (Little Inez), Reece Richards (Seaweed) and Allana Taylor (Amber Von Tussle).

Ndegwa obtained the role after being selected from more than 3000 people who applied to the open auditions in November last year.

The ensemble includes Ben Anderson, Grace Anyiam, Nina Bell, Joseph Bristow, Vanessa Dumatey, Rebecca French, Stuart Hickey, Jaiden Lodge, Olly Manley, Sasha Monique, Jacob Smith and Issy Wilman. Further casting will be announced soon.

Hairspray , penned by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, is set in 1962 in a racially-segregated Baltimore, Maryland. It follows teenager Tracy Turnblad, who dreams about dancing on The Corny Collins Show . The score features such standards as “ Welcome To The 60s”, “You Can’t Stop The Beat” and “Good Morning Baltimore”.

The creative team for the new tour includes set and costume designer Takis, lighting designer Philip Gladwell, sound designer Ben Harrison, musical supervisor and arranger Ben Atkinson, musical director and supervisor Richard Atkinson, video designer George Reeve and resident director Juliet Gough. Casting is by Grindrod Burton.

Produced by Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale and Laurence Myers,  Hairspray  will launch the tour at Manchester’s Palace Theatre (16 to 27 July), before heading to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (29 July to 3 August), Canterbury’s Marlowe (6 to 10 August), Cheltenham Everyman (13 to 17 August), Liverpool Empire (19 to 24 August), Belfast’s Grand Opera House (26 to 31 August), Milton Keynes Theatre (2 to 7 September), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (9 to 14 September), Birmingham Hippodrome (16 to 21 September), Curve Leicester (23 to 28 September), Theatre Royal Brighton (30 September to 5 October), Edinburgh Playhouse (7 to 12 October), Sheffield Lyceum Theatre (14 to 19 October), New Wimbledon Theatre (21 to 26 October), York Grand Opera House (28 October to 2 November), Nottingham Theatre Royal (4 to 9 November), Newcastle Theatre Royal (11 to 16 November), Hull New Theatre (18 to 23 November), and Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre (25 to 30 November).

Into 2025, the show will visit Southampton Mayflower (6 to 11 January), Hall for Cornwall (13 to 18 January), His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (20 to 25 January), Glasgow’s Kings Theatre (27 January to 1 February 2024), Wolverhampton Grand (3 to 8 February), Norwich Theatre (10 to 15 February), Aylesbury Waterside (17 to 22 February), Bristol Hippodrome (24 February to 1 March), Woking New Victoria (31 March to 5 April), Venue Cymru (7 to 12 April) and Sunderland Empire (14 to 19 April).

Select venues are on sale at the link below.

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Theater Review: HAIRSPRAY (National Tour)

by William C. on April 17, 2023

in Theater-Regional , Tours

THIS HEAVYWEIGHT TAKES THE PRIZE

Can you ask for a more perfect pairing than a drag queen and the high camp of musical theater? In this national tour production of Hairspray , Tracy Turnblad and friends turn up the heat with their dance movies on the stage of Segerstrom Hall. The band is tight, the movements are swell, and the jokes are non-stop. And, if you are one of those theater snobs like yours truly that care about craft and storytelling, it is there too. This is a show that takes wrapping the medicine with a shit-ton of sugar seriously.

On the surface, this is a good ”ugly duckling” story mixed in with a little Cinderella. Literally, Tracy ( Nicki Metcalf ), our heroine, dances with rats at her feet in the opening number “Good Morning Baltimore.” She is a big girl with a big personality and an even bigger dream. Her BFF Penny Pingleton ( Emery Henderson ) is always at her side to play along with her fantasies, as and break out into spontaneous bursts of song and dance.

Cinderella had her evil stepmother and sisters, Tracy has the mother-daughter local television royalty, Amber and Velma Von Tussle ( Ryahn Evers and Addison Garner ). They are the skinny blonde queen bees of their kingdom, and are both fat-phobic and racist. Link, the prince charming of our story, played by a very easy on the eyes Nick Cortazzo , is a local teenage celebrity on the Corny Collins show. So, when a free-wheeling teenager takes an unexpected maternity leave from the show, the dream spot opens for all the teenage girls of Baltimore to try out. Tracy, our heroine, is hellbent on attending the audition to realize her dream to be on TV.

A more serious subplot is beneath Tracy’s arc. The racial tensions of 1950s America played out to the hilt in Baltimore. The progressive TV host Corny Collins ( Billy Dawson ) aims to integrate black talent into his show. And, you betcha, this goal is met with fierce protest and anger from the TV producers and the Ultra-Clutch Hairspray sponsor which just created a brand marketed to African Americans. The irony is not subtle. The entertainment industry is portrayed as only too happy to steal profit, dance moves, and music from the black community and concurrently uphold Jim-Crow era racist segregation. Perhaps perfectly captured by Miss Baltimore Crab, Velma Von Tussle, in one of her not-so-subtle rebuttals against Corny, ”We must guide our kids in the White direction.”

I can not love this cast enough. Boy, they all can sing! Metcalf’s voice is rich, powerful, and jovial. Her dance moves are filled with spunk. Cortazzo’s Link is sexy and gives a little Freddie Mercury vibe. Andrew Levitt as Nina West is a triumph in the role of Tracy’s mom Edna Turnblad. This queen is more than just funny. She carries each scene with grace, gravitas, and, yes, emotion. Sandie Lee’s powerhouse vocals as Black activist Motormouth Maybelle in “I Know Where I’ve Been” is sensationally emotional.

The evening’s most stunning, shining jewels are the Dynamite ladies: Jade Turner, Melanie Puente Ervin, and Sydney Archbald . The hall was lit with electric energy when they broke into their individual solos. Their voices were so bright and sonorous.

Shannon Slaton’s sound design is superb. The ensemble mixing is absolutely perfect. There were some hiccups made by the sound-op, but the balance of the ensemble is tuned as close to perfection as live theater gets. As the band was also not mixed too loudly, you could understand the lyrics perfectly. William Ivey Long , Paul Huntley , and Bernie Ardia’s wig and costume designs are tremendous fun. They are so campy, and they made Nina West look terrific.

I wish more musical theater were like this. It is filled with fun and talent of all shapes, sizes, and races that come together to tell the story of our country’s history. To be sure, it is not without inaccuracies because it is theater, not a scholarly textbook. However, it helps us think about the world differently. Perhaps, if we all had a little of Tracy’s can-do attitude, we might get through life together as a community.

Go watch this. Hell, take your grandmother, your racist uncle, your conspiracy theorist mother-in-law, your plants and your pets. Miracles can result from a shift in perception.

photos by Jeremy Daniel

Hairspray national tour reviewed at Segerstrom (ends April 29) tour continues: for tickets, dates and cities, visit Hairspray Tour

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Open Auditions

Many thanks to everyone who has applied to audition for the Hairspray UK Tour 2024.

Applications are now closed.

Due to the volume of applications received we are only able to respond to those who have been invited to attend on the 13th of November, but we would like to say thank you to everyone who sent in an application, we appreciate you taking the time to apply.

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