After decades of being declared dead (except in Disney features, of course), the musical has returned to prominence thanks to Chicago, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and Dreamgirls.

Those are all fine movies, but not exactly family-friendly fare. In the past three decades, the Grease franchise has been the only live-action film musical that appeals to all ages, and the new run of musicals leaves that demographic out in the cold.

Until now. With the release of Hairspray on DVD, a new musical that can be enjoyed by the entire family has arrived. Hairspray tells the story of a "big" girl who desperately wants to dance on a local television show, and yet finds that there are more important things in this world than temporary fame. It is a feel-good story with big dance numbers and incredible singing, couched in a story of fighting segregation.

The cast is first rate. John Travolta (Grease, Pulp Fiction, Wild Hogs) stars as Edna, Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns, Fabulous Baker Boys) is the villainous Velma, and James Marsden (X-Men, Enchanted) takes on emcee duties as Corny Collins, the host of the dance show. Zac Efron (High School Musical) as Link the teen sensation, and Queen Latifah (Bringing Down the House, Chicago) shines as Motormouth Maybelle, the guest deejay on the dance show during the monthly "Negro day." But the standouts are newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad and Elijah Kelley as Seaweed.

Hairspray has had an unusual journey to film. It started out as a John Waters' non-musical film starring Ricki Lake and featuring cross-dresser (and frequent Waters star) Divine as Tracy's mother Edna. Waters' films are many things, but they are certainly not obvious candidates for the musical treatment -- which may be why it was such a brilliant choice for the big-budget Broadway musical treatment. Whatever the reason, it turned into a huge hit (even continuing the tradition of a male playing the part of Edna), and now comes back to us as a film, but with musical numbers.

And those musical numbers, by Marc Shaiman (South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut) and Scott Wittman, are perfect at capturing the mood of the moment through catchy homages to the tunes of the early 1960s. It starts out with an awesome solo number, "Good Morning Baltimore," from Nikki Blonsky, and goes on to expertly blend each character and key moment into song. Highlights include Elijah Kelley's "Run and Tell That" and John Travolta and Christopher Walken's "Timeless to Me," but the absolute showstoppers are Queen Latifah's "I Know Where I've Been" and the cast's rendition of "You Can't Stop the Beat."

The choreography by director Adam Shankman (The Pacifier, Cheaper by the Dozen 2) is fun, and the script by Leslie Dixon is well done. What impresses me most, though, is how seamlessly the elements blend together, experience, creating a total experience even greater than the sum of its parts.

I bought the DVD, and my family loved watching it together. It will sit next to Newsies and Grease on our shelf of favorite modern musicals.
 
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