Hairspray - 2013

What a fabulously uplifting show this is, everyine comes out grinning! In part this is the storyline, which has more depth than you might think, in part it is the very catchy tunes, but really this comes down to having a good band and a decent sized cast who are really up for it! The energy and enthusiasm just roars off the stage and overwhelms you.

Freya Sutton is to be comended on taking Tracy Turnblad by the (very large) hair and making the part very much her own - as a professional theatre debut its quite a performance. Mark Benton as Edna and Paul Rider as Wilbur really seem to have a ball - the front-of-tabs song that they share is as good as I've seen it and, for me, more credible because we end up enjoying the performances rather than just seeing "stars having fun".

Despite selecting a few names I really want to commend the entire company ... they never let the production flag or fade and gave us all one hell of a night out!