Hairspray is the name of three films based on a single story (though adapted): a 1988 film, a 2002 musical, and a 2007 film. The original film, titled White Lipstick at the time, was based on true events that occurred during the summer of 1963 on The Buddy Deane Show. A sequel is expected to be released in the summer of 2010.
Hairspray is set in Baltimore in 1962 in the original film. It tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a plump teenage girl with two goals: to win a local television dance competition and to protest racial discrimination and segregation. Ricki Lake played Tracy Turnblad, Divine played her mother Edna Turnblad, and Jerry Stiller played her father Wilbur Turnblad in the original film. John Waters wrote the screenplay and also directed the film. Despite its modest box office success, it became a cult classic when it was released on home video in the 1990s. Hairspray was nominated for six Independent Spirit Awards in 1988, as well as the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize.
The 1988 film Hairspray inspired the 2002 musical Hairspray. When Margo Lion, a theater producer, saw the original film broadcast on television in 1998, she had the idea to turn it into a musical. Lion began assembling a team and a cast after receiving approval from Waters and acquiring the rights from New Line Cinema. The musical premiered in August 2002 at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway and ran until January 2009. Tracy Turnblad was played Marissa Jaret Winokur, Edna Turnblad was played Harvey Fierstein, and Wilbur Turnblad was played Dick Latessa in the original cast. Hairspray the Musical was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won eight of them, as well as nine of the fourteen Drama Desk Awards it was nominated for and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical in 2007.
The 2007 film adaptation of Hairspray was a musical adaptation rather than the original film, and had the same core plot as the original, but with several changes in presentation, as well as character and plot developments. The film was first developed New Line Cinema in 2004. Tracy Turnblad was played Nikki Blonsky, Edna Turnblad was played John Travolta, and Wilbur Turnblad was played Christopher Walken. The film was nominated for and won a number of awards, including the Teen Choice Award for Best Summer Movie-Comedy/Musical of 2007, as well as Young Hollywood Awards for Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron.