"Good Morning Baltimore" (HAIRSPRAY)

A melding of two loves--Broadway and movies--done right. I saw the midnight screening on opening day of HAIRSPRAY. It was a last minute decision. I had planned on seeing it Friday morning before work, but our boss gave us the day off at the last minute today so my plans changed. So I ran up to the Ziegfeld Theatre (where I saw CHICAGO, RENT, and DREAMGIRLS and really the only place in the city to see a movie musical) to grab tickets for me and Trisha.

So to kill time before the movie, I met up with Vanessa and Dee to cheer our friends on two teams playing each other. I had intended to just watch but one team was short a player so they asked me to play in my loose pants and sneakers. Not my normal play attire but I moved around well enough. It's always fun to play friends because we know each other's playing style and tend to play tougher because of that. We lost the first game but took the next two and had a good time. The sad part was in the second game was when I ripped my pants in between my legs, luckily I had a long shirt. We sat around in the gym to watch the next game and I basically cooled down.

So I met up with Trisha and we waited in line to go in for the movie. Thankfully it was not raining because we were standing outside. They were selling Tracy foam wigs for charity and Trisha bought one for me so it would go with the hardcover movie companion book I picked up earlier. We got into our seats in a very spread out crowd in the theater which was great. From the first beats of the score, I had a smile on my face from ear to ear for the entire movie. I LOVED IT!!!! I've seen the musical on Broadway 33 times so far and fall in love with it every time. The movie captured the musical's enthusiasm and innocence and every actor was cast so well. John Travolta made the character of Edna Turnblad his own interpretation because to follow in the lines of the original's Divine and Broadway's Harvey Fierstein was a big task and surprisingly he shined in the movie. Truly he's a musicals man. I loved the homage to the original--John Waters, Jerry Stiller, and Ricki Lake--appearing in cameos. The breakout star is Tracy Turnblad herself, Nikki Blonsky, who captures the essence of Tracy as an eager teenager ready to change the world and dance along the way. The movie changed a few plot points and dropped/added songs, but it still remained a solid replica of the Broadway version. Much like the Broadway version, it brings joy to my life--dancing, singing, and a message about equality--things I wish I had more of in my life. I'll be returning to see the movie just a few more times, I think, Duh!!