Based on the 1988 John Waters cult classic film and the critically acclaimed Tony Award-winning Broadway hit musical, Hairspray is an all-singing, all-dancing rollercoaster of a movie. Destined to be this summer's massive musical mega-hit, the film is the soundtrack and the soundtrack is the film. It is a treat indeed to witness the singing and dancing talents of such an all-star cast, with John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle and Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad. Joining these all-time legends are teen heart-throb of the moment Zac Efron (from Disney’s High School Musical) as Link Larkin, Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle, Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, James Marsden as Corny Collins, Elijah Kelley as Seaweed, Allison Janney as Prudy Pingleton and eighteen-year-old newcomer Nikki Blonsky in her professional debut. All ‘60s beehives and beats, the original movie soundtrack to this high energy comedy, released on Decca next month, is guaranteed to go to your head! The Film:Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman (Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Pacifier, Bringing Down the House) from a screenplay by Leslie Dixon (Freaky Friday, Mrs Doubtfire), based on the Broadway musical's Tony Award-winning book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan.
The music is by Tony and Grammy Award-winner and five-time Oscar-nominee Marc Shaiman (Hairspray: The Musical, Sleepless in Seattle, The American President) with lyrics by Shaiman and Tony and Grammy Award-winner Scott Wittman (Hairspray: The Musical) and features several brand new songs created specifically for the film adaptation.
The Story:
Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion - dancing. Her dream is to appear on 'The Corny Collins Show', Baltimore's hippest dance party on TV.
Tracy (Nikki Blonsky), seems a natural fit for the show except for one not-so-little problem - she doesn't fit in.
Her plus-sized figure has always set her apart from the cool crowd, which she is reminded of by her loving but overly protective plus-sized mother, Edna (John Travolta).
That doesn't stop Tracy because if there is one thing that this girl knows, it's that she was born to dance. As her father Wilbur (Christopher Walken) tells her, "Go for it! You've got to think big to be big."
The music to the film was composed by Tony and Grammy Award-winner and five-time Oscar nominee, Mark Shaiman (Hairspray: The Musical, Sleepless in Seattle, The American President) with lyrics by Shaiman and Tony and Grammy Award-winner Scott Wittman (Hairspray: The Musical) and features several brand new songs created specifically for the film adaptation. These are: 'Ladies Choice', 'New Girl in Town' and 'Come So Far'.
A nice touch on the album is that the final song, 'Mama I'm a Big Girl Now', features the three Tracy Turnblads - Ricki Lake (John Water's Tracy), Marissa Jaret Winokur (Broadway's Tracy) and finally Nikki Blonsky, the new girl in town and current Tracy.