There's a reason why I love musicals so much -- they make me happy!
I treated myself to an afternoon showing of Hairspray and came out of there singing and smiling. It's great fun, great singing, great dancing, a great story -- definitely a movie worth seeing.
First, I love that John Waters and Ricki Lake have cameos. It's fitting that they paid homage to the original. Now, if they could only have found a place for Harvey Fierstein -- but then they couldn't have anybody drawing focus from the John Travolta incarnation of Edna Turblad, could they?
The new Tracy, Nikki Blonsky, is tremendously talented. She truly owned the role and I was bopping and bouncing around right with her.
I have been in love with John Travolta since the Vinnie Barbarino/Boy in the Plastic Bubble days but I was very skeptical of him as Edna Turnblad. But he camped it up just right and by the end, I loved him too. Travolta and Christopher Walken as Edna and Wilbur were really quite hysterical.
Queen Latifah as Maybelle wasn't much of a stretch. I immediately thought of her in Chicago. Yes, she is a big girl who can sing and sing well, but these roles really strike me as being glorified mammies and that, of course, is not a good thing. I don't think she should take another role like this one, no matter how tailor-made it seems for her.
The one absolute miscast was Amanda Bynes, who seemed out of place the entire movie. Alison Janney as her Bible-thumping mother, though, was hysterical. She's got the chops. Amanda, I've always thought of as quite limited. The guy who played her love interest, Seaweed, was just gorgeous. Such beautiful, velvety skin and a great singer as well.
The music and choreography are tight and the story, of course, is true to the times. I would definitely see Hairspray again, if for no other reason than that I know I'm going to walk out singing and smiling.

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