Daughter and I are musical fans, and ‘Hairspray’ is one of our favourites to watch together at home, so its appearance at the Hall For Cornwall was eagerly awaited – albeit with some trepidation on my part, lest the stage adaptation not live up to Daughter’s expectations. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded, as this production blew our socks off, delivering just the explosion of colour and feel-good energy we needed to liven up a weekday evening.

A Broadway musical based on the 1988 comedy film by John Waters, Hairspray throbs with nostalgia for the effervescent energy of the 1960s, an era of huge cultural change and social upheaval with a new musical sound and a burgeoning civil rights movement.

As Tracy Turnblad, the larger-than-life dance-mad teen who shoots to fame, finds love and fights for justice via a TV entertainment show, Katie Brace carries the show from start to finish. But make no mistake, this is a team effort, offering many of its leads the chance to shine through big numbers and nifty moves.

As ever, You’re Timeless To Me brought the house down with its highly comedic display of affection between Tracy’s ageing parents, Edna and Wilbur Turnblad. I’ve seen this song staged twice now, and both times, the actors were in danger of corpsing. Maybe the giggles and audience interplay are part of the act (Daughter thinks I’m a spoilsport for even suggesting this); either way, I don’t care. Neil Hurst and Dermot Canavan’s chemistry seemed 100 per cent genuine, and they had us eating out of the palm of their hands.

One of Hairspray’s biggest skills is its ability to draw laughs by poking fun at noxious attitudes such as racism and image-shaming, reducing them to absurd footnotes in history (well, almost) while in no way minimising the seriousness of their impact.

Motormouth Maybelle’s gospel-tinged torch song I Know Where I’ve Been was a triumph on the part of singer Michelle Ndegwa, in her professional acting debut, who made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck with her powerful delivery. The solidarity of those on stage, combined with a backdrop of the illustrious names of those who had fought for equality, from Martin Luther King to Rosa Parks, was an undisputed highlight of the evening.

Shout-outs for Solomon Davy as Link Larkin, the handsome love interest who Tracy manages to lure away from arch-enemy Amber von Tussle; Declan Egan as spangled show host Corny Collins, who showed impeccable musical timing; Reece Richards, busting some elastic moves as Seaweed; and Kirsty Sparks, who shone in the role of villainess Velma von Tussle in the version I saw.

Hats off, too, to the performers skilfully shapeshifting through numerous roles under the guise of “male and female authority figures” – morphing from corporate sponsor to police sergeant, sports teacher to prison officer, they had just as much work to do as the leads.

My advice to you: back comb your hair, dig out your brightest clothes and take your seat for a wild and invigorating ride.