Hairspray [Original Broadway Cast] (CD - 2002)

Principal cast includes: Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tracy Turnblad); Harvey Fierstein (Edna Turnblad); Laura Bell Bundy (Amber Von Tussle); Mary Bond Davis (Motormouth Maybelle); Kerry Butler (Penny Pingleton); Linda Hart (Velma Von Tussle); Matthew Morrison (Link Larkin); Dick Latessa (Seaweed J. Stubbs).

Recorded at Right Track Studio, New York, New York on June 29-30 & July 1, 2002.

HAIRSPRAY won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

Personnel: David Spinozza, Peter Calo (guitar); Rob Shaw, Laura Oatts, Dale Stuckenbruck, Martin Agee, Carol Pool (violin); Stephanie Cummins (cello); David Mann , Dave Riekenberg (reeds); Danny Cahn (trumpet); Birch Johnson (trombone); Keith Cotton, Seth Farber (keyboards); Francisco Centeno (electric bass); Clint DeGanon (drums); Brett Alan Sommer, Jim Harp (programming).

Audio Mixers: Pete Karam; Jason Stasium.

Liner Note Author: John Waters .

Recording information: Right Track Studio, New York, NY (06/29/2002-07/01/2002).

Arranger: Marc Shaiman .

John Waters' engaging 1988 film Hairspray received a musical comedy makeover in 2002 that became a bona fide Broadway hit. The original cast album immediately reveals the foundation of the show's success through its winning combination of clever lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a bouncy rock & roll sound courtesy of composer Marc Shaiman, and dynamic performances by the entire cast. Composer Shaiman, who also composed the music for another genuinely funny (movie) musical, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, gives his music a boundless energy that works both as knowing '60s pastiche and solidly effective musical comedy scoring. As heroine Tracy Turnblad, Marissa Jaret Winokur's bubbly vocals light up numbers like the opening "Good Morning, Baltimore" and "I Can Hear the Bells," while Linda Hart gives a sneeringly funny performance of "Miss Baltimore Crabs." Other standout numbers include the Dick Latessa and Harvey Fierstein duet "(You're) Timeless to Me" and the penultimate number, "Cooties" (which boasts lyrics like: "Grew up in a cootie zoo/I bet her two-ton mama's/Got 'em too!"). It's fun, it's catchy, it's funny -- it's one of the best comic musical albums since Little Shop of Horrors. Oh, and make sure not to skip the bonus track. ~ Neil Shurley

2002 found John Waters' cult movie that skewered '60s bobbysoxers culture in Baltimore joining the likes of THE PRODUCERS and THE FULL MONTY in making the leap to Broadway as a musical. Spearheaded by composer Marc Shaiman, (who was Trey Parker's creative collaborator on the brilliantly subversive soundtrack SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT), the cast recording for HAIRSPRAY handily captures the spirit and sounds of '60s pop. Shaiman and partner Mark Wittman perfectly evoke everyone from Sam Cooke (the stirring civil rights anthem "I Know Where I've Been"), Brill Building pop (the hiccuping "Good Morning Baltimore), and of course Motown (the chugging finale "You Can't Stop The Beat").

The vocal talents are equally brilliant and range from lead Marissa Jaret Winokur's Leslie Gore-like range (a yearning "I Can Hear The Bells") to Harvey Fierstein, referred to in the Waters-penned liner notes as "Clarence 'Frogman' Henry meets Kate Smith" (the bubbly Dick Latessa duet "[You're] Timeless To Me"). Other notable performances include Mary Bond Davis tearing up the brassy "Big, Blonde And Beautiful" and teen villainess Laura Bell Bundy sashaying through doo-wop flavored shuffle "Cooties." minimize