How John Waters cult film Hairspray became a Tony Award winning musical

Before Tony Award-winning Hairspray was a hit Broadway musical, it was based on a 1988 comedy film written and directed by John Waters who wrote cult classics like Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, and Female Trouble.

John Waters was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, later known as Divine, also lived in Lutherville (who would portray Edna Turnbald in 1988 Hairspray). He gained interest in films when he was a child. He loved Lilli, The Wizard of Oz, and Cry-Baby (which also became the inspiration for Hairspray).

Waters lived at 313 Morris Avenue in Lutherville from his early teenage years until he moved out in his early twenties. Waters and Milstead shot many of their early films at the house, dubbing the front lawn the "Dreamland Lot".

Waters wrote the screenplay under the title of White Lipstick, with the story loosely based on real events. The Corny Collins Show is based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show, a local dance party program that pre-empted Dick Clark's American Bandstand in the Baltimore area during the 1950s and early 1960s. He wrote about a chubby teenager named Tracy Turnblad who has dreams of being a famous dancer on the Corny Collins show. In the film, she meets the evil blonde racist Queen bee Amber Von Tussle, and her boyfriend Link Larkin who is different from Amber, has an interest in Tracy and Tracy falls for him. Throughout the film, Tracey befriends Motormouth Maybelle and her kids: Seaweed and Lil Inez, she takes a stand against racial prejudice on the show bringing everyone on the show to integrate The Corny Collins show and of course, hairsprays are involved in the film.

The film stars Ricki Lake (before she became a television host) as Tracy Turnblad, Colleen Fitzpatrick aka Vitamin C as Amber Von Tussle, Divine as Edna Turnblad, Jerry Stiller as Wilbur Turnblad, Ruth Brown as Motormouth Maybelle, Leslie Ann Powers as Penny, Michael St. Gerard as Link Larkin, Clayton Prince as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Cyrkle Milbourne as L'il Inez Stubbs, and Debbie Harry as Velma Von Tussle. Hairspray became a moderate success upon its initial theatrical release, earning a modest gross of $8 million. However, it managed to attract a larger audience on home video in the early 1990s. The film became a cult hit. The film would be Divine's final film released during his lifetime, as he died three weeks after its release.

The Broadway Musical

After watching Hairspray, Theater producer Margo Lion contacted Waters and conceived him to adapt Hairspray as a stage musical. Waters gave Lion his blessing and permission to adapt Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. The musical story was kept the same but slightly different from the film.

The cast features Marissa Jaret Winkor as Tracy, Harvey Fierstein as Edna, Matthew Morrison as Link Larkin, Kerry Butler as Penny, Dick Latessa as Wilbur, Mary Bond Davis as Motormouth Maybelle, and Corey Reynolds as Seaweed. The musical opened in Seattle at the 5th Avenue Theatre.

Hairspray opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on August 15, 2002. Jack O'Brien directed the production, Jerry Mitchell choreographed, with set design by David Rockwell, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Steve C. Kennedy, and the show's many distinctive wigs by Paul Huntley. The music was by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Shaiman himself and Scott Wittman, and the book was written by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan.

Unlike the 1988 film, Hairspray was a sensational Broadway musical hit. Hairspray won eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical out of 13 nominations. It ran for 2,642 performances and closed on January 4, 2009. In 2007, the musical would be adapted into a musical film. The film was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman. The cast stars Nikki Blonsky who auditioned for the role of Tracy, Zac Efron as Link, Brittany Snow as Amber, Amanda Bynes as Penny, James Marsden as Corny Collins, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Elijah Kelley as Seaweed, Tayla Parx as Lil Inez, and Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle.

The film received positive reviews and praised all the cast's performances. Since its release, it has been cited as one of the best musical films of the 21st century and of all time. years after the musical film's release, NBC this time sticking with the Broadway musical material with a star-studded cast. Newcomer Maddie Baillio as Tracy, Ariana Grande, Dove Cameron, Jennifer Hudson, Garret Clayton, Rosie O'Donnell, Kristin Chenoweth, Derek Hough, Martin Short, and Harvey Fierstien returning as Edna Turnblad making it another hit musical. The live television adaptation has drawn 10 million viewers.

I love Hairspray it’s one of my favorite musicals compared to Grease and the Wiz. A little fun fact I did Hairspray at my high school during my senior year.

Never mind the ugly selfies!!!!

I never got the chance to watch the original film so hopefully I will try to find the 1988 original film and get a review on it.

Comment below on what’s your favorite Hairspray song.

Source

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I am working on my independent production company GWM Entertainment (GWM Ent.). So far, I have written and completed plays that I have tried to submit every play in every submission but nothing. I have tried to produce my plays unfortunately I didn't have enough funds to produce my projects not even loans and grants to help me. So donate whatever you can.