Anyway, I got to see the Hairspray musical a couple of weeks back. I've never seen either of the movies, so I went in there knowing very little about it, apart from the unlikely heroine wanting to be a star, and I assumed it would be light and frothy fun.
Which it was, but I was also kind of blown away by how much of its heart was about segregration and the civil rights movement and the fight for equality. Unexpectedly powerful, and all the performers were awesome. The showstopper was Motormouth Maybelle's anthemic "I Know Where I've Been", though Edna and Wilbur's "(You're) Timeless to Me" was also brilliant and moving and hilarious, and the finale "You Can't Stop The Beat" was inspiring and dancetastic.
Which it was, but I was also kind of blown away by how much of its heart was about segregration and the civil rights movement and the fight for equality. Unexpectedly powerful, and all the performers were awesome. The showstopper was Motormouth Maybelle's anthemic "I Know Where I've Been", though Edna and Wilbur's "(You're) Timeless to Me" was also brilliant and moving and hilarious, and the finale "You Can't Stop The Beat" was inspiring and dancetastic.