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'Hairspray' brushes aside rivals in London
2008-03-07
"Hairspray", a musical about a fat teenager obsessed with dancing, has beaten box office records in London -- and is now in line for an unprecedented 11 gongs at Britain's top theatre awards Sunday. The stage adaptation of John Waters hit 1988 film has been nominated in 10 categories at the Laurence Olivier Awards, two more than for "Carousel" in 1993, "Oklahoma!" in 1999 and "Kiss Me, Kate" in 2002. That means the record of six "Lauries" won by "Nicholas Nickleby" in 1980 is under threat. The awards, run by the Society of London Theatres since 1976, are named after the celebrated actor and director Laurence Olivier and honour new shows that have had at least 30 performances in the year. "Hairspray" won seven awards at last month's Theatregoer's Choice Awards, the most prestigious prize decided by the general public, which are organised by What's On Stage magazine. "To win any award for a show you really believe in and has been a privilege to put on stage is great news, but to win seven is an absolute delight," said the show's producer Bill Taylor. The hit Broadway musical has been playing eight times a week to packed houses at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London since October 2007. There have been about 100 performances so far, bringing in 10 million pounds (13 million euros/20 million dollars). The most sought-after seats go for 60 pounds, making it is one of the West End's most expensive. Fans can make it even more expensive by buying head to toe memorabilia in the gift shop. The musical has been on at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in New York since 2002. Box office takings so far are up to 200 million dollars. It has also won eight Tony Awards. "Hairspray" tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a dumpy teenager from Baltimore, north of Washington DC, whose heart as as big as her precious backcombed hair. She becomes a star after fulfilling her dream of appearing on a television dance show. But dancing and her infatuation with the show's love interest has a more political element, casting a humorous light on 1960s America and the integration of black and fat people. Critics here have joined in unison to laud the show, lauding school-leaver Leanne Jones in the role of Tracy and veteran musical star Michael Ball, who plays her mother. "'Hairspray' is about people being excluded, ignored and made to feel weird," said British weekly newspaper The Observer, calling it "buoyant, bouffant and big-hearted... girly, curly pleasure". "Big hair, big fun... and a huge new star," said London's Evening Standard while the Metro freesheet said the dancing and singing "put most West end musicals to shame". A remake of the film came out in 2007 with an all star cast, including Michelle Pfeiffer and John Travolta. Directed by Alan Shankman, it is said to have made 27 million dollars in its first weekend -- a record for a film musical -- and 200 million dollars in total.
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