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Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
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Reel Spin: Hairspray on DVD joyous, bouncy, and big-haired |
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| Reel Spin: Hairspray on DVD joyous, bouncy, and big-haired | ||
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by Ron Anders -
SGN A&E Writer With the critical and commercial success of Chicago, the movie musical has slowly inched its way back on to Hollywood's radar. Dreamgirls and Sweeney Todd have taken decades to reach the screen, but have made successful transitions to celluloid. Here are two more tuners that you simply gotta check out on DVD. When the climactic musical number "You Can't Stop the Beat" nearly blew off the roof of our Fifth Avenue Theater during the pre-Broadway run of Hairspray in 2002, I knew that this musical powerhouse would give a much-needed jolt to the New York theater scene. The show went on to win a bouquet of Tony Awards and is still going strong in the Big Apple. John Waters' musical ode to the 1960s has ricocheted from quirky indie film to Broadway blockbuster to full-fledged Hollywood spectacle, and has blissfully succeeded in each incarnation. Director/choreographer Adam Shankman's movie version has just been released on DVD, chock-full of Mark Shaiman's joyous, bouncy tunes that had me dancing around my living room. Our teenage heroine, Tracy Turnblad, is a big-boned, big-haired Baltimore girl - portrayed with indefatigable exuberance by newcomer Nikki Blonsky. Tracy's dream of becoming a dancer on the Corny Collins Show - a local teen TV dancefest - and of ending the segregation that keeps the blacks and whites dancing separately gives the film its David vs. Goliath plot. The huge cast is terrifically inspired. Michele Pfeiffer is deliciously haughty as station manager Velma. Ample eye candy is supplied by James Marsden (who may be the most gorgeous man in show business) as Corny Collins and knockout dancer Elijah Kelly as Tracy's friend Seaweed. Queen Latifah is the sassy Motormouth Maybelle, who gets to strut her stuff in the film's final minutes. Finally, there is mega-star John Travolta as Tracy's plus-plus-sized mom, Edna. Although he brings a silly sweetness to the role (and does a dynamite Tina Turner turn in the film's finale), I missed the sincere-but-perverse touches that Divine and Harvey Fierstein brought to their portrayals of the character. Along with John Waters - who will be forever beloved as our Pope of Trash - tribute must be paid to Marc Shaiman, whose uncanny ear for 1960s melodies makes this a score that will set you tingling time and again as it captures the pulse of the decade's finger-popping rockers and soulful ballads. Lyrics are co-written by Shaiman and Scott Wittman - the guys behind the outrageous tunes for South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut - who are noted for their on-TV smooch at the Tony Awards. Serving double duty as director and choreographer, Adam Shankman explosively propels the plot forward through a perfect balance of song and dance, keeping the music flowing constantly and joyfully. The extras in the two-disc set are almost as entertaining as the film itself. How could they miss with featurettes that include separate documentaries on the film's costumes and hair? The movie is also available in a single-disc edition. Hairspray is why the term "feel-good movie" was invented. Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific had never been a favorite of mine. Although this adaptation of James Michener's tale of loves found and lost on an isolated island military base during World War II is among the most popular of all musicals, it never got under my skin. The 1958 film version left me cold (although I acknowledged the beauty of the score) and I had never seen a stage production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. So it was with was limited enthusiasm that I tuned into PBS' 2006 presentation of a concert version of the show. By the end of the broadcast, I was a believer. Make no mistake about it, South Pacific: In Concert from Carnegie Hall is an event made in Broadway heaven - a one-night-only, one-of-a-kind evening that could only happen in New York. Luckily, in a last-minute decision, PBS decided to record it and has released it on DVD. With limited staging (thus curtailing the sluggishness of the book), this version puts the music front and center, and has performers with the star power to knock it out of the park. Starring as the beguilingly naive Nellie Forbush is Reba McEntire. This queen of country music (who unexpectedly captured the hearts of theatergoers in a revival of Annie Get Your Gun) has an endearing stage presence and, while her voice is clearly not that of a Broadway belter, her Nashville-primed pipes serve the role beautifully. All but stealing the show is Broadway matinee idol Brian Stokes Mitchell (as Nellie's true love, Emile deBecque), whose thrilling baritone dazzles the audience time and again. He receives a rapturous, richly deserved ovation for his moving interpretation of "This Nearly Was Mine". Lillias White, a musical comedy favorite, shines as Bloody Mary, imbuing the character with a cheering warmth and boisterousness. Her version of "Bali Ha'i" is memorably haunting. Alec Baldwin provides goofy comic relief as Luther Billis. Leading the orchestra is Paul Gemignani, the godfather of Broadway musical directors, whose countless credits include his conducting Stephen Sondheim's score for the stage and film versions of Sweeney Todd. The sweeping romanticism of the score has never been captured more indelibly. The electricity of this live event is excitingly palpable; an old chestnut is reinvented before our eyes (and ears) as a vital and vibrant theatrical experience. Overwhelmingly romantic and achingly tuneful, this South Pacific is a thrilling ride. The show, a staple on the revival circuit, has never returned on Broadway since its original production (which debuted in 1949). This spring, the show will finally come back to the Great White Way. One only hopes that it can capture even a small portion of the stardust radiated by Reba McEntire, Brian Stokes Mitchell and company. |
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