Jamie and I saw Hairspray the other night, and I've been listening to the soundtrack all day. I love musicals, and Hairspray won the Tony, so it was bound to be good. Let's break it down.
Of course, the only place to start with this show is with protagonist Tracy Turnblad, played with infectious optimism by newcomer Nikki Blonsky. In the opening "Good Morning, Baltimore," dreamy-eyed "I Can Hear the Bells," and outcast-anthem "Welcome the 60s," Blonsky radiates undeniable charisma. There's a certain low-key but consistent "big is beautiful" meme in Hollywood, and Blonsky certainly has the chops to really profit from it.
Most of the press I've seen on this film has focused on John Travolta's fat-suit turn as shut-in laundress Edna Turnblad. It is true that Travolta is spectacular, and no wonder, with Grease on his resume. But it's Christopher Walkin as oblivious husband Wilbur that is one of the unsung heroes of this film. Duet "(You're) Timeless to Me" has Walkin and Travolta Fred-and-Gingering their way through an authentic love story.
Amanda Bynes and Zak Efron rode separate waves of manufactured teen stardom to make their way into Hairspray, Bynes being hailed for years as a micro-Lucille Ball on Nickelodeon and the WB and Efron rising from Disney's phenomenon High School Musical. Bynes as blond, lollipop-sucking sidekick Penny Pingleton is adorable in pig tails and plaid, innocently falling for the acrobatic and visceral Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), leader of a perpetually detained group of black students. Efron, meanwhile, fills the obligatory "small-minded cool guy who turns it all around" role very well, shaking his hips and slicking his hair like the bizarre Elvis-James Dean love child he's supposed to be.
The good guys round out with Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, matron of Seaweed's band and host of monthly "negro day" on the local dance showcase. Her counterpart is Corny Collins, played by James Marsden. Dammit, I'll say it: somebody get this guy a major starring role. Marsden has been stuck in clunkers like X-Men's Cyclops and Lois Lane's husband (what was his name?) for years now. His turn in this film shows he's got what it takes, with old-school good looks and a smile that could charm the pants off of every coed in the country.
Of course, you need bad guys, or in this case, bad gals. Mouther-daughter team of Velma and Amber von Tussle step up, portrayed as wonderfully catty by Michell Pfeiffer and Brittany Snow. Neither will stand for chubby Tracy shaking her way onto their show and bringing all her black friends with her. These two do everything possible to ruin things, even going so far as to attempt a seduction of Wilbur, which fails miserably.
Also in the realm of bad guys is Allison Janney's hilarious prude Prudy Pingleton. I simply could not stop laughing whenever Janney was on screen. You don't get much farther from The West Wing's C.J. Cregg than a strict Catholic mother tying her daughter to her bed with a jump rope, dousing her in holy water, and hissing "Devil child! Devil child!"
As a musical and as a movie, Hairspray is a hit. A wonderful adaptation of a wonderful adaptation, this film has everything it needs and does everything it needs to do with it. Go right now.
