Μύ It could have been a disaster, thankfully Adam Shankman's remake of Hairspray turned out to be one of the hottest musicals to come along in years. Newcomer Nikki Blonsky steps into the plus-sized shoes of Ricki Lake as junior dancing queen Tracy Turnblad, but it was John Travolta who made the headlines playing mum Edna. Moviegoers were all over it like gel on a boy band.
Style And Set
Anyone who loves musicals will get a kick out of the two-disc Shake & Shimmy Edition which comes complete with dance lessons, a sing-a-long track and a multi-angle behind-the-scenes look at all the major set pieces. A feature-length documentary on the making of the film reveals that a great time was had by all, even if John Travolta did have initial concerns. He says he wanted to cover "every trace" of manhood as Edna, which gave the makeup team a few sleepless nights. We see the evolution of his fat suit, which in the end, completely encased him from head to toe. Kudos to the poor soul who had to strip him down after eight hours of dancing!
Shankman gives us an inside look at the process of choreographing those big musical numbers and composer Marc Shaiman talks about adapting the songs from his Tony-winning Broadway production. Backstage cameras also go riffling through the costume trailer and, of course, there's an up-close look at all the beehives, flips and coifs carefully constructed by Jenny Arbour. Later, the production design team show us how they transformed modern-day Toronto into 60s Baltimore and had a field day crafting all of the kitsch props for Wilbur's novelty store. That's an authentic recreation of 60s fake vomit, you know.
Hair Today, And Tomorrow
Other featurettes trace the history of Hairspray from a mere glint in John Waters' eye through to the 1988 Ricki Lake vehicle and recent Broadway incarnation. "They wanted a big girl who could dance," says Lake. "I couldn't dance but..." There's also a flashback to The Buddy Deane Show, a weekly dance-a-thon that aired on US TV in Waters' childhood and which later inspired him to write the script. According to him, Deane was "a white guy who wasn't especally hip." No offence, James Marsden.
Edna is arrested at the civil rights protest march in one of five deleted scenes and Blonsky gets to perform 'I Cant' Wait' as she sits trapped in her best friend's basement. In an optional commentary, Shankman explains that the song jarred with all of the manic energy building up to that point. Blonsky sits in with Shankman for the film commentary and reflects on how her own amazing journey from ice-cream parlour assistant to bigtime movie star closely mirrors Tracy Turnblad's story. She also talks about her "instant connection" with Amanda Bynes (Penny) and her weird mother-daughter bond with JT. The producers give an alternative commentary looking at how the project evolved from stage to screen e.g. Michelle Pfeiffer's 'Miss Baltimore Crabs' song was specially written for the film.
Simply bursting at the seams with fun features, this 2-disc edition of Hairspray is a guaranteed high. And that's without the CFC gases.
EXTRA FEATURES
Hairspray: Shake And Shimmy Edition DVD is released on Monday 19th November 2007.
