REVIEW – MORE THAN TRACY TURNBLAD – EDINBURGH FRINGE

Posted on by Amy Rye

Plus size actresses are limited on the parts they will be offered. One of the parts they’re guaranteed to play is Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray. Although the industry has made large steps in diverse casting, there is still a massive bias against fat actors which means they miss out on the parts they want to play. Abby Rose Morris is one of them.

Morris is a plus size performer that created the podcast More Than Tracy Turnblad, she’s amassed millions of views on Tik Tok with her honest content highlighting the lack of plus size representation in the industry. Now she’s brought her cabaret to the UK for the first time, where it’s spending two weeks at the Edinburgh Fringe – and you can also watch it online.

More Than Tracy Turnblad begins with Morris bursting onstage in Tracy Turnblad’s signature wig, tartan skirt and white shirt to sing ‘Good Morning Baltimore’. This turns into a little medley of songs including ‘Kindergarten Boyfriend’ from Heathers, ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ from The Little Mermaid and ‘All About That Bass’. Morris then explains that it’s 3 minutes into the show and you’ve just heard her perform in every role that people have told her she is right for. See the options are limited for fat actors in the industry, Morris explains that she’s offered the parts of the tragic wallflower, nurturing mum, sloppy, funny sidekick and the greedy power-hungry villain.

Morris speaks about the lack of representation in the entertainment industry, and how the fat character is usually played by a slim actress in a fat suit – taking away a part for a plus sized performer. She brings up the obvious culprits such as Bridget Jones, who was ‘fat’ but actually weighed less than 10 stone, and Monica from Friends, who was basically referred to as unlovable when she was fat.

Morris tries to set the record straight about the word ‘fat’, and how it’s not an insult, that’s just inherent fatphobia, it’s simply a factual description. She explains how the BMI system is flawed and racist and how fat people can be healthy. She makes so many incredibly important points throughout this show, and I was blown away by how honest she is, and she’s bang on.

Throughout this hour-long performance Morris performs songs with a pianist accompaniment, she has an incredibly good voice and is an absolute powerhouse when performing Idina Menzel’s numbers. There’s some audience involvement as Morris gets three people up on the stage to read some text for her. During this Morris is at the side performing some over-dramatic actions which appeared slightly odd and distracted me from what they were saying. Morris is intense in her delivery at times, highlighting the importance of the topic and how much this means to her.

More Than Tracy Turnblad highlights many important issues within the theatre and entertainment industries. It shows we need more plus size representation, and more roles for fat actresses on main stages. We need the very talented Morris as Elphaba now please, and this incredibly important show needs to be seen, as this is a topic that should be discussed.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclaimer: I watched the show online (On Demand).

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

2 Star Review 3 Star Review 4 Star Review 5 Star Review 2022 2023 Adaptation Almeida Cabaret Camden Fringe Cast Announcement Christmas Comedy Dance Drag Edinburgh Fringe Edinburgh Fringe Interviews Fringe Immersive Interviews Jukebox Musical LGBTQIA+ Lyric Hammersmith Manchester Musical New Musical News New Wimbledon Theatre North West Off West End Park Theatre Play Review Revival Richmond Theatre Round Up Royal Court Theatre Shakespeare Show Announcement Show Recommendations Soho Theatre Southwark Playhouse Touring Production VAULT Festival West End

  • A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
    by Amy Rye
    The infamous Sh!t Faced Showtime are back in London with a festive edition, they have taken Dickens’ classic and put a drunken spin on it. The formula is the same as other iterations of the Shi!t Faced shows, one member of the cast has been boozing, and this time it is John Milton who plays Scrooge. Before the show, half a bottle of Jim Beam, some wine, and beer have been consumed in the previous 4 hours. The rest of the cast, try to keep the show on track, also aided by James Murfitt as the compere, Charles Dickens. The … More A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
  • A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
    by Ellie Preston
    Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, containing stacks of metal cabinets towering over the theatre, moveable by the cast to allow space for other central props like doors, beds and tables. In addition to this, the puppetry design by Matthew Forbes is incredibly clever, adding creepy elements to the show such … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
  • A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
    by Tom Carrao
    The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much affable, satirical back-and-forth commentary on the accepted myths & stereotypes of the Russian spirit & soul. Beset by the indignities of age, opportunism, graft, fatigue, the characters orbit one another, doomed to play out their roles in an unjust, predatory and saturnine universe. The play opens … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
  • PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
    by Amy Rye
    Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by the fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and goes awry, disastrously so. The meta-comedy is filled with slapstick comedy, sometimes the humour may be predictable and silly, but it’s universally funny throughout – there is something for everyone here, and the laughs come thick and fast … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
  • GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
    by George Rennie
    Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, HighTide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and more lightweight, with conventional structures, predictable plot twists and an over-reliance on external forces to drive narrative shoring up some of the less relatable aspects of the genre. Nicola Werenowska’s The Beach House, perhaps the cleanest of the three tales, tells of a mother and daughter’s … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE

Leave a Reply