That's afrotastic!

I love a good musical. Give me singing and dancing any day over a gruesome thriller. Of course, every time I see a new musical, I feel somewhat sad that my dreams of becoming a musical star on Broadway never quite came to fruition (I don't think dancing the Can Can at the Brisbane Treasury Casino counts, although it was pretty fun at the time). Ever since Baz Luhrmann bought musicals back to the big screen with Moulin Rouge (good on ya Baz), there have been some amazing musical films released. Not having seen Hairspray the musical, or the original film, I have nothing to compare this updated version to, but all I can say is, wow.


It has a stellar cast including Michelle Pfeiffer (I can only dream of looking that hot at her age), John Travolta as Edna Turnblad (absoutley hilarious, though the role does nothing to dispel those gay rumours), Christopher Walken (you know he can move - you saw him in Fatboy Slim's film clip), Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley, Alison Janney, Amanda Bynes (lovely girl), Zac Efron (of High School Musical fame) and newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy.


The cute storyline follows Tracy's dreams of one day becoming a dancer on the Corny Collins show - the hippest show on TV! It's the '60s, a time of segregation between blacks and whites on TV, and when being different made you an outsider. After her unsuccessful attempt to audition for the show, repulsing the stuck up producer, and former Miss Baltimore, Velma Von Tussle (Pfeiffer), with her weight and positive view towards integration, Tracy returns to school and discovers a whole new groove with the "coloured" kids in detention. The kids sure can dance!



When Corny Collins sees Tracy's new moves, she's whisked onto the show and becomes a star, much to the disgust of Velma and her prodigal daughter, Amber. But Tracy decides it's not fair that the black kids only get to dance on the show once a month, and along with her best friend Penny (Bynes), heartthrob Link Larkin (Efron), Seaweed (Kelley), Motormouth Maybelle (Latifah) and her larger than life mother (Travolta), she's going to make a difference!

With big cheesy musical numbers throughout and some of the "grooviest" dances you've ever seen, Hairpray is an uplifing, happy hit. Go and see it when it's released on September 13 : )



Notes on Glossy Paper

Images courtesy of imdb.com