Musicals: June 2007 Archives

This was a real treat. New Line Cinema's big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" translates well into a feature film and made me all but forget the original 1988 film about star struck teens on a local Baltimore dance show that launched it all. This movie is full of energy, wonderful music and dancing and has a strong and clear message about diversity.
While I could not wait to see "Dreamgirls" last year, I was a bit more casual about "Hairspray" even though I had enjoyed the show when it was at the Pantages in LA a few years back. My pal Jim Key joined me for a screening last night at The ArcLight and a man and a woman approached us and asked if the seats next to me were available. It was Sam Harris, who played my favorite character of Perry Pearl on CBS' now-cancelled "The Class" which I still mourn. So Sam sits down next to me and without hesitation I start doing Perry Pearl lines. I say: "When life gives you lemons..." And in unison we say: "Make Chicken Picatta!" We dissolve in laughter. Jim looks confused as does Sam's friend, the actress Bridget Moynahan - pregnant and beautiful.
I told Sam how much I miss Perry and he said: 'I miss Perry too."

Anyway, back to the movie: I loved it from the first frame to the last. I want the soundtrack, I want to see it again, it's gonna make gobs of money at the box office.
I wasn't sure how the casting of John Travolta as Edna would work out but the man who made us swoon in the 70s musicals "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" can add a very different musical triumph to his resume. He is great fun in the role, totally gives himself over to it, and I gotta say, you kinda forget it's John Travolta after awhile. And how he dances so well in that fat suit, I'll never know. But he shines.

So does Michelle Pfeiffer as the racist, stage mother, station manager who is the real villian in the piece. My friend Jim didn't even realize it was Pfeiffer until the credits. She nails the role and does a great job as the evil one in this battle of good vs. evil.
And then there is Latifah who is a Queen. She should be a paret of all movie musicals in the near future as she follows up her Oscar-nominated performance in "Chicago" with a heckuva turn here.

We also loved the oh-so-handsome James Marsden who showed that he can sing and dance as well as be absolutely adorable. The younger crowd should also embrace this movie what with the castings of Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Britney Snow and Elijah Kelly. Look for some funny moments from Allison Janney as a Christian wacko mother of Amanda Bynes character.

But, let's face it, the film absolutely could not work if the role of the loveable, brave and spirited Tracy Turnblad isn't spot-on. In newcomer Nikki Blonsky, we have our Tracy. She is a wonder. She dances up a storm with utter self-belief and abandon and she doesn't see the world in black and white or fat and thin. She sees things in terms of right and wrong. Blacks should be able to dance on the show with whites, chubby girls should be able to win the Miss Hairspray contest if they deserve to. Her character works to shatter the social norms of the day and Blonsky makes you believe in her every step of the way.

Jerry Herman, the lyricist-composer of such legendary Broadway hits as "Hello, Dolly!" "Mame" and "La Cage Aux Folles," is being honored in LA tonight at The Actors Fund's annual Tony Awards bash and did an interview with LA's INMagazine to mark the ocassion.
The best parts are when he dishes about the widely criticized castings of Lucille Ball in "Mame" and Barbra Streisand in "Hello, Dolly!" when big-screen movies were made of the hit stage musicals.
Lucy was in her early 60s and ending her 20-plus year run in sitcoms when she took on the plum role of Mame Dennis. Says Herman: "I love Lucille Ball, but that casting was such a mistake. Can you imagine the film if Angela [Lansbury, who played the role on Broadway] had done it? It would have been a remarkable piece of work."
Herman, of course, had wanted "Dolly!" to star Carol Channing who had been the toast of Broadway in the part of Doly Levi that instead went to a red-hot Streisand who had just triumphed in "Funny Girl." Looking back though, Herman said of Streisand in the movie: 'Those songs had never been sung so beautifully...I saw it last year at the Egyptian in a special showing, with all the modern equipment, and I sat with an audience that laughed and laughed and was moved, and really appreciated that film. I think Barbra did an amazing job, knowing in her heart that she was not right for the role, but making it her own. I think time wll be kind to that film."