Directed by: Adam Shankman
Starring: John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Nikki Blonsky
Trivia: Two characters from the 1988 film do not appear in this version: Arvin Hodgepile and Franklin von Tussle. The actors who played them have both passed away: Divine in 1988 and Sonny Bono in 1998.
Suggested correction: Divine played Edna Turnblad.
Divine played both Edna and Arvin. Edna is in the 2007 film, but not Arvin.
Continuity mistake: During the scene with the picture of the teacher with breasts. Link's and Amber's seats move. Link's seat is behind the desk and then its in front moving Amber's seat over towards the center of the desk.
Motormouth Maybelle: [to Seaweed and Penny.] Oh, so this is love? [She pauses and then smiles.] Well, love is a gift, a lot of people don't remember that. So, you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin' at you from a neverending parade of stupid.
Penny Pingleton: [Totally serious.] So, you've met my mom?
Trivia: As for John Travolta playing Edna Turnblad, that goes back to John Waters having often cast 'Divine' in his movies. 'Harris Glenn Milstead' was an actor best known for performing in drag as 'Divine', John Waters cast him as Edna in the 1988 version. When the Broadway musical was being cast, they cast Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad, and started a tradition of casting a man in the role of the mother, so the movie is just keeping that tradition going.
Question: One of the lines in "Without Love" states that "Without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo". What does that mean?
Answer: First I need to explain that the Apollo Theater, an amazing music venue, is in upper Manhattan (NYC), in the predominantly black neighborhood of Harlem. The movie 'Hairspray' takes place in 1962, and at that point in time very few white musical artists had performed at the Apollo (between 1950s and early 60s), and those who did were famous rock-and-roll musicians, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets in 1957, the first white band to perform there (they were booked due to a mixup). Now as for Doris Day, by 1962 she was a lovely popular American actress/singer, who, as the saying goes, was "as white as white bread", and to imagine someone like Doris Day appearing on stage at the Apollo Theater is an amusing incongruity and just not quite right. So the words "without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo," means life would just not be right at all without love.
Thank you. My director is making our cast look up stuff we don't know. So as Penny I felt like I needed to know so thank you for cleaning that up for me.
I hope you have fun playing Penny, and that your entire cast and crew enjoy putting on your stage production of Hairspray. Break a leg, sweetie.