Hairspray (Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron) – Not many reviews of musicals begin with a discussion of the score and its composer, Marc Shaiman. Shaiman is the Richard Rogers of this era, having written the music both for Broadway and numerous movie scores (check our imdb.com and search for Shaiman’s name). Hairspray is the most continuous, manic score in years and plays almost as well on screen as it did on Broadway. It, like The Producers, is a musical movie based on another movie that made its mark as a musical play. It’s the story of Tracy Turnblad, a sunny, plump teen in 1962 Baltimore who dreams of being a star, starting with the popular Corny Collins show (this looks a lot like Philadelphia’s and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, a national sensation of the same era). Played by unknown Nikki Blonsky, who pined for the part from the first day she heard about it as a young teen, she is the heart of the movie, even though she gets an unbelievably low “and introducing” credit. It’s the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, too, and the show is lily white except on “Negro Day,” when the rock rolls, the dancing gets steamier, and the music goes Motown. And who better to do that than Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, who runs a local record store and hangout for black students? These forces combine as the self-centered TV station manager, Velma Von Tussle, a former “Miss Baltimore Crab” played by Michelle Pfeiffer, strives to keep things as they are, which means rigged in favor of her own daughter, Amber. Amber (Brittany Snow) is trying to win her third straight crown as the queen of the hairspray brand that sponsors the show. But alas, when one of the regulars goes on vacation for nine months (if you know what I mean), Tracy gets selected despite her size and against Velma’s wishes. Think that’s enough for a great musical with energetic high school kids of both races dancing and singing snappy, pop tunes of the early 1960s? No!!!!! To this wonderful premise and musical mayhem, we add two historic stage characters as Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur Turnblad. On Broadway, Edna was played by the incomparable Harvey Fierstein, who probably wants to know why he wasn’t selected for the movie given his own movie career in films like Mrs. Doubtfire and Torch Street Trilogy. For the movie, the brilliant casting decision of getting John Travolta pays off here in adding a musical legend who can dance and sing (remember Grease and Saturday Night Fever?) takes the movie to a different level. Travolta decides not to use a high-pitched voice but plays it as female as he can with a willingness to wear a zaftig body suit and to look pretty grotesque. He/she never leaves home till her exuberant daughter convinces her to step out and step up. The outfits are stunning, not at all a “drag,” if you know what I mean. And despite Edna’s unattractiveness, she is the apple of Wilbur’s eye. Wilbur is played by the incomparable Christopher Walken, who started as a song-and-dance man, and who plays his part as the owner of a novelty store perfectly while supporting his daughter like a daddy should. It’s a tour de force for the entire cast, and you’ll want to see it again and again. The film is not Chicago, a high-budget extravaganza. Neither is it Grease, which plays as well outside as it did in the theater and is actually improved with location shots. Hairspray is so manic that it can be done on indoor sets, meaning it looks more like A Chorus Line. I loved this movie and will buy the video to watch it over and over.