Review: Hairspray, Hippodrome

With a spring in its step and a very generous helping of American high-school moxie, Hairspray bounds into the Bristol Hippodrome with exactly what is needed to refresh the March air.

Tracy Turnblad longs to be on The Corny Collins Show, and to be in with a chance to win ‘Miss Hairspray’. Constantly getting things wrong, Tracy causes shock and consternation by finding her place not only amongst the perfectly-coiffed and -sized girls of TV, but shouting for racial integration and acceptance.

Rebecca Mendoza as Tracy takes the best part of the first half to warm up but, once she gets going, she offers a powerful voice. New to the story of Hairspray (other than a convoluted family connection to the original West End Edna), I’m not sure I’m entirely convinced or sure of Tracy’s interest in racial integration – her desires seem to flit between getting the guy and having a bit of a boogie, without much drive behind her passions.

Rebecca Mendoza as Tracy Turnblad

In this production, it’s the mothers – Edna (Matt Rixon), Velma von Tussle (Gina Murray) and Motormouth Maybelle (Brenda Edwards) – who vocally steal the show. Brenda’s history as an X-Factor belter is clear, but her rendition of I Know Where I’ve Been hits the gut like a round of punches, and it hits home that not just some, but all of the issues raised in the show are still ongoing today. Countering that, the play between Rixon and Norman Pace as Tracy’s father has the audience in stitches – not just for their obvious onstage strength, but also for their ability to ad-lib when not everything goes to plan.

Brenda Edwards as Motormouth Maybelle

It takes a while for the true message to creep through. It’s well into the second half before we hear that Corny Collins is in on the plan to ‘put kids on the show who look like the kids who watch the show’, and the minority characters play a background role throughout. Sadly, this state of affairs is all too relevant in 2018, and it feels as though the production might somehow have offered more of a challenge to the status quo.

It works, but doesn’t ask you to stop to think for too long about the uncomfortable issues it covers. We’re left letting Velma Von Tussle and her equally unpleasant daughter join in on the fun and games at the end of the show, rather than facing the kind of ostracisation and segregation they have themselves implemented.

It’s a familiar soundtrack, and the choreography really makes you want to get up and dance, particularly the chorus girls of Welcome to the 60s. Curiously, this is the first time I’ve seen the audience at the Hippodrome take the entirety of the curtain call to stand for final ovations and inevitable big-finish dancing. Whether this is due to post-snow stiff joints or post-show coldness, it underlines the sense that this is an enjoyable production, albeit not an innovative one.

Hairspray continues at the Hippodrome until Saturday, March 10. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/hairspray/bristol-hippodrome

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