Some of you, of a certain (ahem) age, will remember the original movie version of this one.
I saw Pink Flamingos. It only worked if one had smoked some serious weed beforehand...if you know what I mean.
But I think Hairspray is one of John Waters' best works, and a lot of fun:
In 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, plump teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show.[1] When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight. She then launches a campaign to integrate the show. Hairspray is a social commentary on the injustices of parts of American society in the 1960s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Marissa Jaret Winokur has a fantastic voice, and really is the best part of the original Broadway production. However, the clips of her on stage look like they were filmed through somebody's camera. A good camera, but still....
The Cab Calloway school's production, OTOH, is easier to watch.
BTW, I think you will all enjoy a line from the play:
Tracy has just been threatened with going to special ed and NOT going to college b/c she danced with a black kid.
"Where do you go after special ed?" she asks.
"Congress!" her friends announce.