Hairspray

Milton Keynes Theatre, until April 14

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. A familiar face is playing the role of Wilbur Norman Hale is back in the role. What made him sign up again? “Wilbur is a fascinating character; he is quirky, wise, strange,” he said. “I was attracted to the role because I found different ways of delivering all his lines to get the maximum effect from them and it’s one of those things that even 125 performances in, I continue to do and now I just seem to turn into him as soon as the costume is on.

“I thought this role, the role of Wilbur, was right for me. “I looked at it on paper and it immediately reflected what I’m good at, what I think I do best. I just knew I really wanted to do this.” And Norman is loving the lure of the boards again. Stage work is preferable to television, and he loves the feelgood factor that Hairspray brings.

“So often I can walk into the theatre feeling low or miserable, even tired, especially on a Wednesday matinee where we have to be at the theatre for 12, which sometimes feels like it’s too early to be jumping around, dancing and singing, but by the time the show has finished I can’t help but, with the adrenalin running through my body, feel like I have had the best time and it’s a joy to do it.

Brenda Edwards (X Factor) will play Motormouth Maybelle and Layton Williams is Seaweed.