Hairspray! The Musical is Alive and Well!
If you’ve never seen one of Insight Editions books on films you don’t know what you are missing. These are not just books that you read, but they are the next best things to actually seeing the films. You actually can experience the movie through words and pictures but also through the dozens of little surprises that pop out at you as you journey through the pages. The smash Broadway hit musical Hairspray came to the big screen in July to rave reviews from both film critics and fans alike. Newspapers and magazines such as the Boston Globe, Chicago Sun Times, Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, and Rolling Stone all gave the film a grade of an A or an A-. It just proves that film fans still love a good musical when its done right.
In conjunction with the film, Insight Editions has released their wonderful book that brings the film home to fans in a unique way. Beginning with a foreword by John Waters, the book explores the making of the film from the original version, to the stage, and finally this Summer’s blockbuster re-make, all in full, bold color. The book contains literally hundreds of photos from the film as well as exclusive, behind-the-scene shots of cast and crew. John Travolta not only plays the most unique role in his illustrious career as Mama Edna, but he supplies own thoughts on the role and why he decided to do the film. Travolta discusses his approach to the role in trying to make Edna a believable character, from her voice right down to how she walks. From his words, you can see that John had a great time making this movie, particularly the climactic dance number. Besides Travolta you’ll meet the rest of the fantastic cast such as James Marsden as Corny Collins, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, Jerry Stiller as Mr. Pinky, Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, and Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad. (Man! That is some cast!) But this isn’t just some dry narration on making a movie. As you begin to negotiate the pages you start encountering some of those surprises I talked about earlier. There are all sorts of inserts placed in the book…faux posters for TV shows that were seen in the film, postcards that have nostalgic, period designs, cling-on stickers, and envelopes that you have to open that contain other special treats. I’m not going to play spoiler, you’ll have to get the book and open them yourself!
There’s also great articles about the films song and dance numbers and lots of trivia about the early 1960’s like the top Juke Box hits of 1962, as well as styles of clothes and hair from the era. From cover to cover this is just a treat for the eyes and will put a smile on your face. A great collector’s book!
