Hairspray Live

For the past couple of years NBC has been making live versions of musical movies. They have done Peter Pan, The Sound of Music, and the Wiz. Now it is time for Hairspray. This movie/ Broadway musical is colorful, uplifting and overall a story about a girl following her dreams.

Hairspray started in 1988 as movie. It then went on to become a Broadway musical in 2002. The remake of the movie was made in 2007. Hairspray is about Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager, who loves to dance. Her dream is to dance on the Corny Collins show with teen heartthrob Link Larkin. Everyday Penny Pingleton, her best friend, and her run home to watch Corny. When a spot opens up on the show, Tracy sees this as her chance for her big break. Her mother, Edna, thinks that the people in media won’t accept her because of the way she looks. But in 1962, there is another group of people who are not being accepted. Tracy meets Seaweed Stubs and his sister Little Inez and they stage a master plan to get Tracy and the Seaweeds friends on to the show permanently. In the end, Tracy gets on the show and she gets Link Larkin.

The music, dancing and romance just puts racial segregation into a pretty package. As Tracy tore that done the segregation, some people feel that America is segregated from this election. This live performance is timely placed and is showing how segregation came to an end in the 60’s. Just like the song Tracy and Edna share, “Welcome to the 60s” it tells the changing world around them and it can help us to.

Welcome to the rhythm of a brand new day/ Take your old-fashioned fears/ And just throw them away.