Review: Hairspray - Big Talent
Big Talent – Hairspray
This week, I was kindly offered tickets to see The Nicest Kids In Town perform in Big Talent’s debut musical, Hairspray, at the Richard Burton Theatre in the always lively Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Sat amongst a completely full audience (which is always a good sign), the first thing I noticed about this production was the superb quality of the set. With the trademark giant can of ‘Ultra-clutch’ hairspray, Motormouth’s record store and the wonderfully cheesy set of ‘The Corny Collins Show!’, this production was a beautiful thing to look at.
Having been involved in/watched many youth theatre shows, I have to say that the vibrant and kaleidoscopic set, brought in effectively via the fly tower was some of the best I’ve seen in a professional capacity or otherwise.
Having only seen the film version of Hairpsray (the 2007 version) once a few Christmases ago, it was nice to see it on stage for the first time and justice was definitely paid to the material.
The ensemble cast did a great job of supporting what was already an exceptional cast of principles; who appeared at ease on stage at all times and had brilliant chemistry.
Sophie Evans, who played the lead role of Tracy Turnblad was perfectly suited to the role and brought an infectious smile and relentless optimism to the room that was really refreshing to watch (as well as a flawless vocal performance to boot!).
Returning to the theme of chemistry, the relationships between Evans’ Tracy and her mother Edna (played by Dan Barnes) and her best friend, Penny Pingleton (played by Phoebe Jones) were very well realised, and never felt forced overstated. Tracy’s father Wilbur (played by Nathan Williams) had an innate likeability essential to the role.
Sam Longville matched up to the task of the leading man, Link Larkin (un-phased by some unfortunate microphone issues) and Luke Read did a great job of turning up the cheese as show host, Corny Collins.
There were several particularly strong numbers within the production, however, I have to say my landslide favourite was Reuel Elijah’s rendition of Run And Tell That, which was sung with such soul and danced along to with such effortless rhythm and groove that it was hard not to get out of your seat and join him. Combined with real dance talent and some impressive acrobatics, he performed in a way that wouldn’t have been out of place in the professional version of the show.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the slightly more melancholy number, I Know Where I’ve Been, in which Motormouth (Leilah Hughes) laments years of oppression and longs for change.
Overall, Big Talent’s first musical production was a great success and I’m sure it’ll be the first of many.
Big Talent’s next show is set to be Ben Elton’s We Will Rock You (based on the songs of Queen) and audition information can be found on their website.
Related:
Organisations » The Big Talent School
Articles » Categories » Stage
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Articles: Hairspray @ WMC (2013), Hairspray @ WMC (2010)
Events » April 2014's Sprout Editorial Group Meeting
