Hairspray, the ultimate big, bold, feel-good musical, would be a challenge for any established company, yet the talented pupils of St Joseph’s RC High School, made easy work of it in an enthralling two-hour roller coaster of fun.

Make no mistake, this was a performance worthy of any local theatre, with a large, well-rehearsed cast giving their all.

Full credit must go to director and producers, Carlo Testa and Paula Baxter along with musical directors Bob Fitzgerald and Bethan Morgan and choreographer Sara Millichip in exposing and encouraging the wealth of talent on stage.

It’s Baltimore, 1962, Tracy Turnblad, a young girl with big hair and an even bigger heart is on a mission to follow her dream to sing and dance on national television. She faces jibes about her size and encounters segregation as the television company disallows white and black teens dancing together.

The cast, consisting of students from Year 7 through to the Sixth Form, admirably picked up these themes, and triumphantly turned them around to show the beauty of difference.

Stand out numbers, Good Morning Baltimore, I Can Hear the Bells, It Takes Two, I Know Where I’ve Been and You Can’t Stop the Beat, kept the audience on the edge of their seats.

Inevitably, the leading characters rightly received the biggest accolades from a very appreciative audience, but they would be the first to acknowledge that they couldn’t  have shone without the support from the entire ensemble .

Congratulations all, it was quite simply - a spectacular!.