New HAIRSPRAY UK Tour to Launch in 2015-16

A new production of the international smash hit Hairspray will embark on a major UK tour in 2015/16. This big, bold and beautiful musical comedy will begin its UK tour at Leicester's Curve theatre on 9 September 2015 and will then tour to 29 venues across the UK, including a Christmas residency at Birmingham Alexandra Theatre in December 2015.

Hairspray will be directed by Paul Kerryson, with choreography by Drew McOnie and musical direction by Ben Atkinson.

The show, with music and lyrics by Academy Award, Tony and Emmy winning duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, will tour to: Leicester, Aylesbury, Northampton, Malvern, Liverpool, Hull, Manchester, Wimbledon, Bradford, Southampton, Ipswich, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol, Woking, Cardiff, Norwich, Milton Keynes, Leeds, Plymouth, Stoke, Bromley, Canterbury and Southend.

It's Baltimore 1962, where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV. Tracy's audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob Link Larkin along the way.

Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. With music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical and Best Performance in a Supporting Role. Proving to be an international success, Hairspray has also opened in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Following the musical's phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which starred John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden.

Hairspray is produced by Mark Goucher and Laurence Myers, Tom O'Connell for QNQ and Just for Laughs Theatricals.?