Film: "HAIRSPRAY"

Hairspray Movie Production Notes

John Travolta (left) stars as “Edna Turnblad” and Nikki Blonsky (right) stars as “Tracy Turnblad” in New Line Cinema’s upcoming release of Adam Shankman’s HAIRSPRAY. Photo Credit: ©2007 David James/New Line Cinema

(Release Date: July 20, 2007)
Director:Adam Shankman
Starring:John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, and Queen Latifah

Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion – dancing. Her dream is to appear on “The Corny Collins Show,” Baltimore’s hippest dance party on TV. Tracy (Nikki Blonsky) seems a natural fit for the show except for one not-so-little problem – she doesn’t fit in. Her plus-sized figure has always set her apart from the cool crowd, which she is reminded of by her loving but overly protective plus-sized mother, Edna (John Travolta). That doesn’t stop Tracy because if there is one thing that this girl knows, it’s that she was born to dance. As her father Wilbur (Christopher Walken) tells her, “Go for it! You’ve got to think big to be big.”

After wowing Corny Collins (James Marsden) at her high school dance, Tracy wins a spot on his show and becomes an instant on-air sensation, much to the chagrin of the show’s reigning princess, Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow), and her scheming mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer), who runs television station WYZT. Even worse for Amber is the fact that it’s not just the audience who loves the new girl in town; Amber’s sweetheart, Link Larkin (Zac Efron), seems to be smitten with Tracy’s charms as well. This dance party gets personal as a bitter feud erupts between the girls as they compete for the coveted “Miss Teenage Hairspray” crown.

At school, however, a short stint in detention and raised-eyebrows caused by the budding relationship between her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) and Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) opens Tracy’s eyes to a bigger issue than the latest dance craze or the coolest hairdo – racial inequality. Throwing caution to the wind, she leads a march with Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) to fight for integration and winds up with an arrest warrant instead. Tracy is on the lam now and goes underground – literally – to her best friend Penny’s basement.

Has Tracy’s luck finally run out? Will she miss the final dance-off against Amber and forfeit the title of “Miss Hairspray,” or will she sing and dance her way out of trouble again?

When big hair meets big dreams anything can happen – and does – in this high-energy comedy that proves you don’t have to fit in to win.

Based on the 1988 John Waters cult classic film and the critically-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning Broadway hit musical, Hairspray features the all-star ensemble of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, James Marsden as Corny Collins and Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, as well Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle, Zac Efron as Link Larkin, Elijah Kelley as Seaweed, Allison Janney as Prudy Pingleton, Jerry Stiller, Paul Dooley and introducing eighteen-year-old newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad.

Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman (Bringing Down the House, The Pacifier) from a screenplay by Leslie Dixon (Freaky Friday, Mrs. Doubtfire).

The music is by Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award-winner and five-time Oscar®-nominee Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray: The Musical,” Sleepless in Seattle, The American President, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) with lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Scott Wittman (“Hairspray: The Musical”) and Shaiman and features several brand new songs created specifically for the film adaptation. The film is based on the 1988 screenplay, Hairspray, written by John Waters, and the 2002 Musical Stage Play, “Hairspray,” Book by Mark O’Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

The film is produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the executive producers of the Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award-winning Best Picture, Chicago, as well as television’s “Annie,” “Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,” “Gypsy” and “Cinderella”. The executive producers are Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Toby Emmerich, Mark Kaufman, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot (Step Up, The Pacifier) and Garrett Grant (Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Pacifier).

The creative production team includes director of photography Bojan Bazelli, ASC (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Oscar®-nominated production designer David Gropman (The Cider House Rules), editor Michael Tronick, A.C.E. (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Oscar®-nominated costume designer Rita Ryack (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), Academy Award®-winning set decorator Gordon Sim, S.D.S.A. (Chicago), and three-time Academy Award®-winning sound mixer David MacMillan (Apollo 13, Speed, The Right Stuff).

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