Review: Hairspray, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

On a warm summer’s evening in Cardiff Bay, the mood inside the Wales Millennium Centre was already excitable, the musical Hairspray was in town.

So it was hardly surprising that when Tracy Turnblad burst on the stage with the trademark wide grin and endless enthusiasm that has become synonymous with the much-loved character, the whole audience was immediately all-smiles.

For more than two hours we were all transported back to the ’60s, with an all singing, all-dancing, high energy performance that, by the end, had everyone on their feet.

Nikki Pocklington was fantastic as the loveable and excitable Tracy Turnblad while Like Striffler and Josh Pitermann played the all-American cheesy television heartthrobs Link Larkin and Corny Collins to perfection.

Meanwhile, Lucy Benjamin played the evil Velma Von Tussle with great conviction with the added humour needed for the character, while Sandra Marvin wowed the audience with her powerful singing voice as Motormouth Maybelle.

Marcus Collins, who rose to fame on The X Factor, was also entertaining as Seaweed J Stubbs.

But it was Mark Benton as Edna Turnblad and Paul Rider as Wilbur Turnblad – Tracy’s eccentric and mismatched parents – who arguably stole the show.

A particularly special moment was the duet between the pair, which was made even more hilarious when Benton could barely finish the song after starting to shake with laughter halfway through.

The audience were involved the whole way through as they were encouraged to cheer, clap and even dance along to the instantly recognisable tunes.

If anyone had been feeling melancholy before the show, you can bet those feelings would have been blown away within minutes of the opening classic Good Morning Baltimore.

Yes, it is cheesy, yes it is sugary sweet, but Hairspray doesn’t pretend to be anything else – and it’s extremely hard not to love something that  had people literally dancing their way out of the theatre.

Hairspray is at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff until June 29. For tickets, call 029 2063 6464 or visit www.wmc.org.uk