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A jazz-hands thank you to Rebecca D. of TAKING UP ROOM https://takinguproom.wordpress.com/ for allowing me to participate in 🎵THE THIRD BROADWAY BOUND BLOGATHON!🎵)
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(screenplay by Leslie Dixon / directed by Adam Shankman)
I hate musicals!.
Ok, that's obviously a lie. However, I can't stand the bloated musicals of the 1960's. MY FAIR LADY could be used as an instrument of torture and THE SOUND OF MUSIC should've ended with Maria spinning off one of those hills.
I guess I like offbeat musicals the best. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, SWEENY TODD, CANNIBAL THE MUSICAL, to name a few. Does HAIRSPRAY follow in the same offbeat path? Well, let's find out.
I love-love-love John Waters' 1988 film about racial integration and dancing. So, when I heard there was going to be a Broadway musical, I thought...NO! I listened to the Original Broadway Cast album and it didn't do a thing for me (and still doesn't.). Then I heard about a film version of the Broadway musical and I thought...Interesting.
The casting caught my attention. The idea of John Travolta and Christopher Walken as Edna & Wilbur Turnblad blew my mind! Then hearing that Queen Latifah would be stepping into the shoes of Motormouth Maybelle made me eager to see this musical. Oh, and I adored the idea of Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle because, with John Travolta, there would be a GREASE/GREASE 2 connection.
I actually went to the theater in my small Nebraska town to see HAIRSPRAY. It was me and a few women of a certain age in the audience. The story basically follows John Waters' original film, with a few detours and changes. It's the early 1960's and Tracy Turnblad (a jubilant Nikki Blonsky) dreams of dancing on The Corny Collins Show, a local Baltimore teen dance program. When this dream comes true, Tracy fights for the love of teen-dancing-heartthrob Link (a bland Zac Efron), dances for the acceptance of full figured women and protests for integrated dancing on the show. Along for this worthy revolution is Tracy's sheltered friend Penny (a quirky Amanda Bynes) and Motormouth Maybelle's son Seaweed (an energized Elijah Kelley).
The adults in the film appear to be having a good time. John Travolta and Christopher Walken as Tracy's parents have a nice chemistry, though they will never replace Divine and Jerry Stiller in the original film. Queen Latifah takes Motormouth Maybelle and makes the character her own and gets to belt out a few good tunes, which is what she does best. Michelle Pfeiffer is fine as Velma Von Tussle since the character was vamped up for the musical. I must add that Allison Janney is wasted as Penny's obsessive mother an James Marsden does a serviceable job as Corny Collins. (Was John Barrowman busy with TORCHWOOD at the time? He would've made a perfect Corny!)
While I'm disappointed that the title song from the original film is not included, there are some catchy songs. (Why I enjoy the film versions but not the Broadway versions is still beyond me.). Anyhoo, I dare you to not join Tracy as she giddily sings Good Morning, Baltimore, a song introducing her dancing dream. It's impossible to refrain from dancing to the joyous rhythm of Seaweed's Run and Tell That, an anthem of strength and solidarity in the black community. The exuberantly fun Without Love is a celebration of the love between Tracy & Link and Seaweed & Penny. Last, but not least, is the infectiously hopeful grand finale You Can't Stop the Beat, a pop-infused tribute to the changing times of the 1960's. It's too bad life isn't a musical, where the multiple divides in humanity could be easily bridged with an upbeat song and groovy dancing.
Which sort of brings me to my complaint about this version of HAIRSPRAY. The overall feel lacks the sharp edge of John Waters' crossover hit. It's a watered down (pun intended) sanitized, Hollywood version. Which is pretty much what I expected as I took my seat in the theater. Still, even with this, I enjoyed the celebration of diversity and outsiders singing and dancing across the screen. That celebration is what drew me to the original film in the first place and made me a life-long John Waters fan.
As I left the theater, I overheard a couple of the women of a certain age remark how they thought the movie was going to be about a beauty parlor. I couldn't help but chuckle and wonder if they would research and find the original, which might ultimately lead them to PINK FLAMINGOS. That thought made me more than chuckle.
In conclusion, HAIRSPRAY (2007) isn't as offbeat as it wants to be but it contains some great songs and an interesting cast. In a lot of ways, the story was built for a Broadway and film musical. So embrace your inner hair-hopper and watch this film with a beat you can dance to...and then find the non-musical original for a truly offbeat good time!
Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.
Freak Out,
JLH
P.S. If either version of HAIRSPRAY is all you know of John Waters, then you may not want to read or listen to my review of MONDO TRASHO...
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