Niki Metcalf News

Listen to the first episode of the fourth season of the theatre podcast, Breaking the Curtain.

I strongly recommend going to see this show for its last couple of performances at Capital One Hall, or try to catch a performance in another city that the tour will be visiting.

What did our critic think of HAIRSPRAY at Orpheum Theatre? You can't stop the beat! Hairspray, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon is back on tour! Join 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV's most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world?

This super-sixties musical continues to feel fresh, while also seeming like it's been around forever.

As I settled into my seat at Proctors to watch the new touring production of HAIRSPRAY, I wasn’t expecting anything particularly revolutionary. Instead, I was met with a production that embodies the show’s themes of love and solidarity so effectively that I’m convinced this show is more timely now than it was when it was conceived two decades ago.

Based on John Waters' 1988 cult film of the same name, Hairspray takes place in Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1962. The story centers on a plump teenage girl named Tracy Turnblad, whose lifelong dream is to dance on the local TV dance program known as The Corny Collins Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show and becomes an overnight sensation, she launches a campaign to integrate the show.

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, will go on sale Friday, November 18 at 10am. This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play April 11 - 16, 2023 in Salt Lake City at the Eccles Theater. 

Following an interview last month with Travis Cormier who plays Strat; the leader of the Lost in Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell The Musical in Las Vegas, Breaking the Curtain is back with another interview, joined by Alizé Cruz. Alizé plays the role of Raven Falco; the daughter of Falco who catches the eye of Strat.

The audience was thrilled to welcome home Columbus’s own sextuple superstar, Andrew Levitt aka Nina West, who has successfully conquered the entertainment genres of TV, film, theatre, music, web series, and most recently as an author of children’s book, “The You Kind of Kind.”  His role as Edna Turnblad is just icing on the cake.

You Can't Stop the Beat! The Grand is proud to present the Wilmington engagement of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon HAIRSPRAY at the historic Playhouse on Rodney Square from December 1 to December 4.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Tommy Betz when the buses for the 20th anniversary tour of HAIRSPRAY pull into Columbus.

BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL star Travis Cormier discusses his audition process, starring as Strat and more on BREAKING THE CURTAIN podcast. Listen here!

Hennepin Theatre Trust has announced that HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, returns to Minneapolis next year as part of the 2022-2023 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin season.

All new photos and video have been released of the new cast of the North American tour of Hairspray, helmed by Jack O’Brien and Jerry Mitchell. Check out the clips and photos here!

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award®-winning musical comedy phenomenon, went on sale September 16, 2022 at 10 AM. This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O’Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play Friday, November 4 – Saturday, November 5, 2022 in Kalamazoo at Miller Auditorium. 

HAIRSPRAY, Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon, is on sale now! This new North American tour, helmed by original director Jack O'Brien and original choreographer Jerry Mitchell, will play November 8-13 in Columbus at the Ohio Theatre, presented by CAPA and PNC Broadway in Columbus. 

OKC Broadway opens their fall season with the new tour of HAIRSPRAY. This is the Hairspray you know and love, with iconic musical numbers and higher than high hair dos. When teenaged Tracy Turnblad lands a spot on the Corny Collins show, she wants nothing more than to dance on TV with her friends. She and her gang set out to integrate the show.

The HAIRSPRAY North American tour, helmed by Jack O'Brien and Jerry Mitchell, will kick off at The Carson Center in Paducah, KY, prior to visiting more than 55 cities in its second touring season. Get a first look inside rehearsals here!

Top stories include full casting for the tour of Aladdin, Erika Henningsen will lead a new musical 'Joy' in New Jersey, and more! Plus, Nina West will return to the Hairspray tour, a new Melissa Etheridge one-woman musical is headed off-Broadway, and more!

Returning cast members Andrew Levitt aka Nina West (from “RuPaul's Drag Race”) as Edna Turnblad, Niki Metcalf as Tracy Turnblad, Sandie Lee as Motormouth Maybelle, Billy Dawson as Corny Collins, Ryahn Evers as Amber Von Tussle, Addison Garner as Velma Von Tussle, and Emery Henderson as Penny Pingleton will be joined by new principal cast members Charlie Bryant III as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Ralph Prentice Daniel as Wilbur Turnblad, Brayden Krikke as Link Larkin and Joi D. McCoy as Little Inez.