Hairspray (musical) closed, "Hairspray" began touring the UK and Ireland, starting at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on April 7, 2010, following previews from March 30. The tour stars Michael Ball as Edna, alternating with Michael Starke and Brian Conley; Les Dennis, Nigel Planer and Micky Dolenz alternating as Wilbur and Laurie Scarth as Tracy. "Hairspray" toured the UK and Ireland in 2013. The show opened on February 13 in The Lowry Theatre in Manchester with Mark Benton playing Edna Turnblad, Lucy Benjamin playing Velma Von Tussle, Marcus Collins as Seaweed Stubbs and Freya Sutton as Tracy Turnblad, respectively. MM Musicals
West End theatre for their injuries. In 2012, gross sales of £529,787,692 were up 0.27% and attendances also increased 0.56% to 13,992,773-year-on-year In 2013, sales again rose this time by 11% to £585,506,455, with attendances rising to 14,587,276. This was despite slightly fewer performances occurring in 2013. The length of West End shows depend on ticket sales. The longest-running musical in West End history is "Les Misérables". It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats", which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest-running West End musical of all time on 8 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's