With less than a week to go before Hairspray takes to the Liverpool stage, excitement is mounting at the Empire. 175 wigs, 80 cans of hairspray a week, a crew of more than 60 people and 13.8 tonnes of equipment are being amassed at the venue ahead of its opening night on Tuesday, August 17. Brookside’s Michael Starke may finally shake off the shackles of Sinbad as he takes two hours every day to transform into larger than life heroine Edna Turnblad, united in matrimony with the loveable Wilbur, played by Les Dennis. Laurie Scarth plays Edna and Wilbur’s daughter Tracey Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, who has only one passion – dancing. She wins a spot on the local TV dance programme, The Corny Collins Show and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetting hair-hopper like Tracy get massively shy Edna out of the apartment, beat evil Amber to be crowned Miss Hairspray, integrate Corny’s show for good AND win the heart of local heartthrob Link Larkin, all without denting her ‘do? Hairspray opened in October 2007 at London's Shaftesbury Theatre, running to critical acclaim for more than 1000 performances over 2 ½ years, to a combined audience of more than one million people. The award-winning smash took £50m at the box office, becoming the theatre’s most successful and longest running production in 40 years. Now it’s coming to Liverpool for three weeks only from 17 August – 4 September. Tickets are still available from the Empire here, and Made Up will be reporting from the gala performance and after party next week!
