Radio Lady Reviews: "Hairspray" (Opens Friday, July 20, 2007)

[Radio_Lady]

“Hairspray” is back in vogue…hey, not the stuff to freeze your poofy hairdo… We're talking about the sensational new movie! And it is hot…not to burn yourself…but I mean it has captivating dancing and songs, as well as comedy and non-stop fun.

“Hairspray” has come to the big screen in a big way. The pre-rock, R & B music of the early 60’s and dancing of the post big band era will tempt you to drag the person next to you into the aisles to do the Twist or one of the other retro 1960s dances!

The story is mostly a bit of fluff, corny as in the Corny Collins Show, the American Bandstand look-alike program that is a big part of the story. "Hairspray" has a frothy message on integrating the races that goes down really easy. This flick is an adaptation of the show that is still running on Broadway. The show is itself an adaptation of the non-musical 1988 film outing, and it seems it just gets better and better.

The story is set in 1960s Baltimore and revolves around chunky, dance-loving Tracy Turnblad, played by Nikki Blonsky, who auditions for a spot on the popular Corny Collins show. She wins and becomes an instant sensation but is not welcomed by everyone on the show. In addition, she finds herself in the middle of the program’s racial bias that has limited appearances of blacks to “Negro Day”. Things really get going when show manager, Velma Von Tussle, played by Michelle Pfieffer, announces termination of Negro Day. It’s unthinkable that blacks and whites would be on stage at the same time even though the darker performers clearly offer the latest cutting edge dancing and singing.

The cast is uniformly excellent. Blonsky is terrific as Tracy, and so is Pfieffer as an icy and villainous beauty. John Travolta is big-boned and wonderful as Tracy’s mother Edna Turnblad and is supported by the always-great Christopher Walken as Tracy’s father Wilbur. Add in superlative performances by Queen Latifah (the recent recipient of breast reduction surgery!) as Motormouth Maybelle, James Marsden as Corny Collins, Zack Efron as Link Larkin, Elijah Kelley as Seaweed Stubbs and so many excellent performances that you just have to go see this one for yourself.

Put on your dancing shoes and RUSH to “Hairspray".

I rate it an A+ on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.



This is Ellen Kimball for Oregon Public Broadcasting's Accessible Information Network.