Hairspray: The Movie!

After seeing the touring show of Hairspray last December, I've been waiting to see the movie. Today was the movie's opening day and I wanted to help out box office sales. So Mallorie, Ken and I caught the afternoon show.

I must say that while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I thought the stage show was much, much better. Nikki Blonsky, who plays Tracy Turnblad, was absolutely outstanding, as was John Travolta who plays Tracy's mama, Edna. (I absolute love that as an actor he isn't afraid of a little gender bending.) Zac Efron, who was Link, was such a cutie. And yes, he's got the talent to back up his looks. I was also amazed by James Marsden who played Corny Collins. I had no idea he could sing! Queen Latifah and Elijah Kelley were great as Motormouth Maybelle and Seaweed, respectively. Britney Snow (Amber Von Tussle), Michelle Pfeiffer (Velma Von Tussle), and Christopher Walken (Wilbur Turnblad) were good as well. I did not like Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton. I was extremely disappointed with her portrayal. I've seen her movies and her TV series, so I know she can be very funny. But she held back quite a bit. Not sure if it was the director's choice or hers, but the Penny character really suffered.

Mallorie enjoyed the show as well. There were several instances when we were both chair dancing along to the infectious music. Ken wasn't as animated, which wasn't surprising. He was probably watching the movie with a critic's eye.

As soon as we left the movie theater, I headed over to Best Buy. I bought Mallorie the movie soundtrack and I got the Original Broadway Cast CD. Our respective iPods will be playing respective versions of songs from Hairspray for quite a while.