SOMETIMES you just look around and you feel like washing all the bad news right out of your hair.

This is where the 'feel good factor' is called upon.

And there's no better uplifting showbiz shampoo than the theatrical experience that is Hairspray.

It's a consistent favourite here on Merseyside and each new touring version brings something fresh to the show.

This latest production is awash with vibrant colours from the 50s and 60s costumes to the lighting and sets where we are transported to pre-Beatles Baltimore in 1962.

There is also a very versatile cast - individually and collectively.

It is about how music can break barriers - those created socially and politically.

Segregation is the ugly stamp of bigotry here dismantled by those who see music as a joyful mechanism to bring people of all races together where something like the  'Negro Day' is no more.

Hairspray is never preachy and uses backdrop images of the civil rights movement of the 60s which are perfectly pitched throughout.

It is a tale that revolves around the likable Tracy Turnblad -  played by the effervescent Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby.

It is - astonishingly - her theatrical debut and she relishes every song  - notably the opening scene-setter Good Morning Baltimore.

It really does get bouncier, funnier, and enjoyable as the two and half hour nostalgia tale based on the John Waters film  unfolds 

 It's all nicely paced by directors Paul Kerryson and Brenda Edwards.

Humour abounds. Witty dialogue and very slapstick at times

There is a major highlight when Edna Turnblad (Neil Hurst) and hubby Wilbur (Dermot Canavan) join forces for a wonderful duet on You're Timeless to Me.

Plenty of ad-libbing and sentimentality keep the audience cheering along.

With under twenty songs in the poppy soundtrack the cast shine on every number.

Michelle Ndegwa as Motormouth Maybelle and Gina Murray as baddie producer Velma Von Tussle add extra sparkle to their characters.

An on-stage band is superb from start to finish.

It all ends with a fabulous finale of You Can't Stop the Beat.

If it's escapism you need and you want to let your hair down then treat yourself to a special, sun-filled appointment at the Empire now.

Five stars

Fizzy and Fun

Until Saturday.