Chiwetel Ejiofor
© AFP Leon Neal LONDON (AFP) - The stage adaptation of John Waters's hit 1988 film won Best New Musical and its 22-year-old star Leanne Jones scooped Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Tracy Turnblad.
Michael Ball, playing Jones's on-stage mother, was named Best Actor in a Musical and co-star Tracie Bennett won Best Performance in a Supporting Role.
The award for Best Actress in a play went to Kristin Scott Thomas for her role in "The Seagull", and Chiwetel Ejiofor took home the Best Actor prize for "Othello". Rupert Goold was named Best Director for "Macbeth".
The awards, which have been running for more than 30 years, also paid tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He was given a special award for "his remarkable achievements over the last few decades as well as his recent role in bringing theatre to new audiences the world over."
"Hairspray" had been nominated in an unprecedented 10 categories, but its four "Lauries" fell short of the all-time record of six set by "Nicholas Nickleby" in 1980.
The musical tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a dumpy teenager from Baltimore, north of Washington DC, whose heart is as big as her precious backcombed hair.
She becomes a star after fulfilling her dream of appearing on a television dance show.
But dancing and her infatuation with the show's love interest has a more political element, casting a humorous light on 1960s America and the integration of black and fat people.
Jones's award caps a remarkable year for the young actress, whose role in "Hairspray" was her first as a professional, and who was working in a bank's call centre just a year ago.
The awards, run by the Society of London Theatres (SLT) since 1976, are named after the celebrated British actor and director Laurence Olivier and honour new shows that have had at least 30 performances in the year.
"Hairspray" won seven awards at last month's Theatregoer's Choice Awards, the most prestigious prize decided by the general public, which are organised by What's On Stage magazine. It has also won eight Tony Awards.
The hit Broadway musical has been playing eight times a week to packed houses at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London since October 2007.
Critics have had little else but praise for the show, with weekly newspaper The Observer describing it as "buoyant, bouffant and big-hearted... girly, curly pleasure."
"Big hair, big fun... and a huge new star," said London's Evening Standard while the Metro said the dancing and singing "put most West end musicals to shame."
A remake of the film came out in 2007 with an all star cast, including Michelle Pfeiffer and John Travolta.
©AFP