'Hairspray' to be Re-Applied

John Water's musical extravaganza has already made the journey from screen to stage, now it's going back again. Confused? Let us explain.

Nov 30 2004

'Chicago' producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have rather confusingly been asked to work on the film version of the Broadway version of the movie 'Hairspray'.

The original 1988 film, directed by that mustachioed purveyor of bad taste John Waters, starred Ricki Lake as Tracy Turnblad, a chubby, bee-hived teenager who somehow dances her way onto Baltimore's Corny Collins Dance Show.

A typically eccentric effort from Waters, the film featured a stellar cast of drop-outs, has-beens and never-weres, including Sonny Bono, Debbie Harry, Pia Zadora and legendary drag queen Divine, but did little business at the box office at the time.

The Tony-winning stage version opened on Broadway to critical acclaim in 2002 however, bringing a fast-paced dynamic to an already colourful and camp production.

New Line therefore decided to re-make 'Hairspray' for the musical's new generation of fans, and so called in the Oscar-winning pair behind 'Chicago' to make it happen.

'We jumped at 'Hairspray', Zadan told Variety, 'because we didn’t want something remotely in the gene pool of 'Chicago.'

Production kicks off early next year in Baltimore and will combine elements of both the film and stage versions of the story, with a few new songs thrown in for good measure.

There's no word regarding director or cast yet, but expect Tony-winner Harvey Fierstein to reprise his cross-dressing, scene-stealing performance as Tracy's larger than life mother Edna.

And if successful, expect musicals to start dominating our cinema screens as Zadan and Meron are also planning new versions of both 'Footloose' and 'Damn Yankees'.