Aired on NBC in 2016, this live version of the 2002 Broadway musical—based on John Waters's 1988 cult movie—centers on a plucky teen who leads the way in racially integrating a Baltimore TV station's American Bandstand-like dance program in 1962. Hairspray's opening number quickly establishes the scale and ambition of this production, with a breathtaking army of dancers and varied actions spread over city streets exhibiting polish and careful timing. The terrific cast includes Maddie Baillio in the lead as Tracy, whose overnight celebrity as a dancer on the all-white The Corny Collins Show and her strong relationship with African-American students at her school ultimately fuse into a determination to bring black kids onto the hit program. Harvey Fierstein (who wrote the teleplay) returns to drag comedy to play Tracy's hausfrau mom, while Martin Short is her enthusiastic father, and Ariana Grande is her shy best friend. Andrea Martin, Kristin Chenoweth, Rosie O'Donnell, Sean Hayes, Jennifer Hudson, and Ricki Lake (who played Tracy in Waters's film) round out the excellent cast. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)
Hairspray Live!
(2016) 165 min. DVD: $14.98. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Volume 32, Issue 2
Hairspray Live!
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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