Hairspray (musical) encourages individuality, acceptance and freedom. It is a musical that can be applied to any social context and time, as it highlights ongoing issues such as fat-shaming, racism and discrimination. It also explores femininity in terms of the female characters. Notably, Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad, is performed in drag during the shows. Allowing a drag role for Edna adds a queerness to the musical as it does not include any gay characters. Edna is considered to be the non-racialised other that is part of the story in Hairspray. The musical also challenges the societal norms of a female. The body
West End Frame Awards categories (some new categories and some returning categories) including Best Jukebox musical, Best Performance of a Song in a Musical (the Award was previously won by Rachel Tucker in 2012), Understudy Of The Year and Best West End Debut. On 15 May 2013 the full list of nominees for West End Frame's Understudy of the Year Award was announced. Voting then opened on Thursday 16 May for a six-week voting period, noticeably longer than Best Jukebox musical and Best Performance of a Song in a Musical which received two week long voting periods. Ashley Day won the award for understudying