THE New Theatre takes a step back in time this month to the 1960s in Baltimore, USA, as musical Hairspray rolls into town.

Tracy Turnblad is a big girl, with big hair and an even bigger heart, who is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way on to national television.

When an audition makes her a local star she soon uses her new-found fame to fight for equality and bags herself the local heartthrob, Link Larkin, along the way.

Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters.

Tunes include Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now, The Nicest Kids in Town, It Takes Two and Welcome to the 60s.

Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards.

In 2007, the production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre and won four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. It went on to become an international success.

A second movie, starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden, was also released in 2007.

The show opens at the New Theatre, Oxford, on Monday, September 21, and runs until Saturday, September 26.

Tony Maudsley, from ITV1’s Benidorm, will play Edna Turnblad, while actress and television presenter Claire Sweeney, who was Lyndsey Corkhill in soap opera Brookside and had roles in shows including Educating Rita and Guys and Dolls, is Velma Von Tussle.

Olivier Award-nominated actor and former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan is Wilbur Turnblad and British singer and West End performer Brenda Edwards, who performed in Chicago, We Will Rock You and The X Factor, is Motormouth Maybelle.

Freya Sutton reprises the role of Tracy Turnblad after originally starring in the UK and Ireland 2013 tour of Hairspray.

Tickets are available from the New Theatre box office on George Street, by calling 0844 871 3020.

Alternatively, visit atgtickets.com/oxford.