You Can’t Stop That Beat!
Almost thirteen years after 60s musical Hairspray hit the West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre, it’s back for a limited eighteen-week run (from 23 April) at the magnificent London Coliseum. What’s more, the new production reunites original director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell with the one and only Michael Ball in the role of Edna Turnblad.
Mr Ball spoke to me about his return to the musical in which he not only starred in London but also toured after its 2010 closure: “I knew, with the final performance of Hairspray I did on the road, that it wouldn’t be the last time I’d wear the heels and boobs. In fact I still have them at home… and the frock.”
His involvement with the show formed a lasting bond between singer and the famous larger-than-life stage persona. “I’ve been involved in a number of shows and I don’t think I have ever enjoyed myself so much as in Hairspray. I’ve also never seen audiences enjoy themselves so much; it’s a magical musical, and is one of the best crafted and best constructed,” he enthuses with genuine excitement. Since John Travolta starred as Edna in the big screen adaptation (also 2007), Michael Ball has arguably made the role his own in Britain. “I remember seeing it on Broadway, five years before it came over here, and thinking, ‘I would give anything to play that part.’ But I thought nobody would ever cast me. Probably five years earlier they wouldn’t have but, when I eventually heard it was coming over, I literally begged for an audition. Thankfully, I’ve never looked back.”
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HairsprayJerry MitchellLizzie BeaLondon ColiseumMarisha WallaceMichael BallMusicalsPaul MertonRita SimonsWest End
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