Movies in 2011 #5: Hairspray (2007)

Today is Three Kings Day, and we got a present, the DVD of Hairspray, not the original John Waters movie from 1988, but the post-Broadway 2007 musical version, directed by Adam Shankman, with production design by David Gropman and costumes by Rita Ryack. My kid and her dad listen to the soundtrack when they bake on the weekends, so he got her the movie.

I ADORE the colors and the costumes! Of his production design, David Gropman says:

"The set sixteen hues that filled the palette of Hairspray were juxtaposed colors fashionable in the early 1960s. “I decided on a very close and specific color palette from the onset. The idea was to take iconic colors from the ‘60s and dull them down enough (dead yellow, muddy salmon, soft aqua, and a heavy dose of my favorite greens) to keep them at arm’s length from musical comedy territory. We ‘published’ the palette so that all departments had the same rule book. Everyone’s close attention to the same sixteen colors helped to give the film a strong, unified look.”

But this is one of those cases where the original still has the most flavor.