Crystal Kay serves Kuri Clark-Sheard realness as Hairspray's Motormouth Maybelle

As was announced in April of this year, Crystal Kay will be starring in the Japanese Broadway debut of Hairspray as Motormouth Maybelle. And now we finally get to see her in character for the first time.

Crystal really 'bout to be called a Negro on Broadway in Japan. I cannot.

Crystal looks like she about to drop a Gospel album that will slap like a Pentecostal pastor.

I do wonder why they didn't give her a platinum blonde wig though. And a BIG one at that. It's such a signature part of Maybelle's look and they just played it right down with a Sunday church wig. Hopefully when the show finally hits the stage, they'll have changed it.

Crystal had made her Broadway debut in Pippin, which was a pleasant surprise in what I thought was a one-off thing. But nope. Here she comes with a stint in Hairspray. This will be amazing exposure for her, given that Hairspray is far more well known than Pippin around the world. And Naomi Watanabe starring in the lead role as Tracy will be a huge draw. Naomi has had a massive popularity surge over the past year, being who may be one of the only larger girls in Japan to book high profile magazine covers, star in clothing campaigns and be the face of make-up brands. And her most recent stint is a feature in the Queer eye special that's set in Japan.

It's kinda wild that Crystal Kay isn't the main attraction, despite being a singer signed to a major label and releasing music in Japan for 20 years. It's actually kinda sad. But the opportunity to still be doing music and Broadway in Japan as a black girl is amazing, and she deserves all the flowers for it. I hope Hairspray is the springboard it has the potential to be.

Hairpsray opens in June. General advance tickets start to on go sale from March 28, 2020. So if you're a resident in Japan or planning to be there in 6 months time, bookmark the link below and set the date in your calendars.

🎫 Get'chu a ticket: Hairspray: The Broadway muscial (in Japan)

Crystal Kay will officially celebrate the 20th anniversary of her career next year and is also working on a cover album. So if her team are smart, they will kick that shit off and drop the album in the midst of all o' dis Hairspray shit.

📝 Album reviews: Call me Miss... | All yours | Color change! | Spin the music | Vivid | Shine | For you
🔊 CK Spotify playlists: Sparkle (a Christmas EP) | This is (some of) Crystal Kay | This is Crystal Kay