Sandra Marvin News

The roof got lifted off the Birmingham Hippodrome last night with the rapturous audience reaction to Stage Entertainment's UK touring production of Hairspray. With big hair and fun aplenty, you will not find a show with so much energy and attack as this one. With wide appeal across the board due to the 2007 film starring John Travolta as the loveable Edna Turnblad, Hairspray has something for everyone. It is great to see a younger audience drawn to the theatre; very few shows these days have such power. Hairspray is topical, has good morals, catchy music by Marc Shaiman and brilliantly choreographed dance routines by Jerry Mitchell - the show has everything!

Gary Naylor wallows in the glorious songs of a great songwriter.

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has today confirmed their complete 2013 season. Pride and Prejudice will follow the previously announced production of To Kill a Mockingbird, whilst The Winter's Tale re-imagined for everyone aged six and over will be staged prior to The Sound of Music to complete the Open Air Theatre's 2013 summer season.

The producers of HAIRSPRAY today announced that The X Factor's Marcus Collins will join stars Mark Benton and Lucy Benjamin on the show's forthcoming UK and Ireland tour, which opens at Manchester's Lowry Theatre in February next year.

The full cast has been announced for Novel Theatre's West End production of COOL HAND LUKE, which will be led by Marc Warren (Hustle, Mad Dogs). The show will be directed by Andrew Loudon, and will open October 3 at the Aldwych Theatre.

Along with previously announced Michael Ball, also starring in the U.K. Tour of Hairspray will be Laurie Scarth, Liam Doyle, and Danny Bayne. The tour begins at the Cardriff Millenium Centre and will begin March 30th, immediately following its West End closing. The tour is scheduled to run through January 2011 with stops in Glasgow, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Manchester, Plymouth, Liverpool, Sunderland, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Birmingham, Bradford and Edinburgh. For a full schedule or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.hairspraythemusical.co.uk.

Along with previously announced Michael Ball, also starring in the U.K. Tour of Hairspray will be Laurie Scarth, Liam Doyle, and Danny Bayne. The tour begins at the Cardriff Millenium Centre and will begin March 30th, immediately following its West End closing. The tour is scheduled to run through January 2011 with stops in Glasgow, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Manchester, Plymouth, Liverpool, Sunderland, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Birmingham, Bradford and Edinburgh. For a full schedule or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.hairspraythemusical.co.uk.

The producers of HAIRSPRAY are delighted to announce full, all star casting for the show that will embark on its first ever tour of the UK and Ireland this year.

The premiere West End cast of the smash hit multi-award winning Broadway musical Hairspray has been announced. Michael Ball will star as Edna Turnblad, Mel Smith as Wilbur Turnblad, Leanne Jones as Tracy Turnblad and Ben James-Ellis as Link Larkin . Hairspray open at the Shaftesbury Theatre on Tuesday October 30, following previews from October 11.

Complete casting has been announced for Trevor Nunn's abridged London staging of the Gershwin classic Porgy and Bess, which begins performances in October