Paul Merton Joins HAIRSPRAY West End Revival As Wilbur Turnblad

The hit musical Hairspray is returning to the West End! Tonight the production announced that actor Paul Merton will be joining the cast in the role of Wilbur Turnblad.

Merton joins a cast that already includes original Hairspray UK star Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad, West End star, Lizzie Bea (Kinky Boots West End, Becoming Nancy) as Tracy Turnblad and Marisha Wallace (Disney's Aladdin, Dreamgirls London) as the one and only Motormouth Maybelle!

The production is set to begin performances on April 23, 2020 at the London Coliseum,

The show's original creative team, including director Jack O'Brien, choreographer Jerry Mitchell and producer Adam Spiegel will reunite for the production.

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 four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical.

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 and book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan.

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