Veteran British actor and erstwhile heartthrob Michael Ball will play Edna Turnblad in the upcoming London production of Hairspray. I guess he's put on a few since Les Miserables and Aspects of Love.
Here's my question, though: Why did it take five years for this show to open in London? The show is showing signs of winding down its Broadway run (stunt casting = jumping the shark), and has even started showing up in regional theaters such as the North Shore Music Theater, which is just outside of Boston. Plus, the movie version is coming out next month, although perhaps it's not being released yet in th U.K.
It will be interesting to see just how successful the London production is given its delayed bow.
Speaking of the Hairspray movie, I am seriously having second thoughts about paying to see it in the theater now that star John Travolta has said publicly that he agrees with superfreak Tom Cruise on the subject of psychiatry and psychotropic drugs. I'm not even going to mention the name of their crackpot "religion" because these nut jobs have a history of attacking anyone who questions them in public.
Note to Tom and John: your job is to look pretty and collect too much money for appearing in bad movies. Keep your misguided, unfounded, and downright dangerous misconceptions to yourself.
The London production is much better than the film. Michael Ball is a revelation as Edna.
Posted by: Sarah | January 09, 2008 at 11:41 AM