It’s really hard not to love a musical. The elaborate costumes, the spontaneous bursting into song to communicate something that could just as easily be relayed without a tightly choreographed routine. It’s magical, really. And one of the most magical, beloved musicals in existence has to be Hairspray.
Between the Original Broadway production, national tours, and adaptations for television, the Baltimore-based masterpiece, (yes, masterpiece) has been through a number of memorable remakes. But the one that you’re probably most familiar with is the 2007 version starring a post-High School Musical Zac Effron, Amanda Bynes at her prime, Brittany Snow and Michelle Pfeiffer as the mother-daughter duo of your teenage nightmares and of course the fan-fucking-tasic John Travolta in drag.
Now, it might come as a bit of a shock but this particular Hairspray is ten years old. A whole decade has passed since we tried to recreate Penny's pigtails on our own heads and danced around our living rooms to 'You Can't Stop The Beat'. And if that's not an excuse to rewatch it this evening I don't know what is. But in the mean time, here are some of the reasons why the film is so great.
John Travolta was born for drag
Our dear Travolta still had serious moves, you guys. And this was hands down my favourite (his best) performance ever. Just putting it out there.
It spoke about an important, difficult issue pretty well
Beyond the music, it's easy to forget that the heart of the musical is actually about the racial segregation that dictated American lives back in the 60s. Sure, the issue goes way deeper than a musical comedy will ever be able to delve into fully. But it did it well and was probably lots of people's first glimpse of what it was like.
Zac Efron was too much for our teenage hearts
Troy Bolton, who?
Can we please take a moment for Christopher Walken
He was a father to all of us, dammit.
Sorry, just one more moment
Words can not express how on point the cast for this adaptation was. And John and Christopher's relationship brought us all so much joy.
The 'nicest kids in town' weren't all that
Cutting school to go sing and dance on a huge TV show? Okay, yes that was literally my dream BUT homework is cool too, right? Everyone wants to be one of the popular kids, but also let's not forget that no one wanted to be friends with Brittany Murphy, anyway.
Penny’s mum struck the fear of God in all of us
Remember when she tied Penny to a stool?
Amanda Bynes was peak Amanda Bynes
I dare you to name a better film she was in. Appart from *She's The Man. *That's a classic.
Link and Tracy’s relationship gave us life
We all needed proof that the popular (mean) girls don't always win.
Elijah Kelley wasn’t given enough credit
Literally the smoothest guy on earth. Penny was a bloody lucky girl.
And this particular moment was absolute gold
*Hairspray *was funny. Like legitimate, IRL, tongue in cheek satire at it's best.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.