Hairspray - London Coliseum

Production wise the second tour was well tacky, which relied on projections. No excuse to have a poor Wilbur Turnblad joke shop, it is hardly hard to transport between venues. If I was a guessing person, I would say it is a sell-a-door show, which for them everything is a race to the bottom, they would make Bill Kenwright’s production lavish.

The original London production, didn’t really have a big set, so was easy to convert to the 1st tour, which was a blast. Hairspray is always fun if done well and is so lightweight but with a urgent heavyweight message. It is a joy to watch and is one of the greatest musicals to play a stage anywhere.

Current/recent productions of Amelie, Fame, Rock of Ages, Big Fish and Little Shop of Horrors were/are all excellent Selladoor productions. Generally I think Selladoor have been a great and welcome addition to the UK touring scene. The second tour of Hairspray isn't a Selladoor show. 

Transferring to the Palladium do we think ?? Fro a pre Christmas turn before Panto

Does anyone know if Marisha has any shows where she's not performing?

There’s a bit of dynamic pricing going on (Got decent dress circle seats for £39.50) but you will have to look out for them. I’d expect more offers once they’re able to have full capacity.

Kids week tickets go on sale tomorrow morning...for those who are eligible.

"Have your tickets ready please, ladies and gentlemen. He's big for his age, isn't he?" 🙂

Can I ask a question about near the ending, does Penny’s mum still come charging along through the stalls and along the front row on to the stage? I have front row booked and not sure whether to warn my OH or not. He is going to hate this as it’s so cheesy but he’s putting up with it for me lol

Marisha Wallace has just been singing on This Morning. She better not overdo it as she has 2 performances of Hairspray today including one I am due to see tonight.
Go home and rest now Marisha.

I had a feeling it was a fairly small role.

Well its a 4 stars from me.
The stage is too big and the sets look a bit cheap to me but these are very minor points.
The last time I saw Hairspray was with Michael Ball at the Shaftsbury theatre all those years ago and I had forgotten how much fun it is.
Great cast with no weak links. As others have said Marisha Wallace steals the show with her big 2nd act number but it really is Michael Balls show and you can tell that both him and the audience were loving it.
Spotted a few 42nd Street faces in the ensemble as well. The actresses who played Penny Pingleton and here mother were hilarious.
The audience were having a ball and at the end everyone was on their feet for "You Cant Stop The Beat" and several people, including the man along the row from me knew all the dance moves and were joining in.
I liked the fact that the final bow was from Lizze Bea and not Michael Ball. That was nice as in reality she was the lead.
Massive applause at the end and you wouldnt think that it was only 50% capacity.
Michael Ball said a few words at the end about welcoming people back to the theatre and that the applause from 1,000 people sounded like 10,000.
Imagine what its going to be like later this month when, hopefully, its full capacity.
One good thing about social distancing is that you have plenty of space and no one sitting in front of you so everyone gets a great view of the stage. But we need to get back to having to look around the head of the tall person in front again.

Some good reviews this morning as well including a 5 star review from the Times. I had to look twice as I dont remember the last time the Times gave 5 stars to a musical.

Sad how one potential positive case means the performance is cancelled.
I'm sure England would still be playing if there was a positive case on the team!