Hairspray (1988)

This FREE SCREENING will be held outdoors at The Coalition Space, 311 E. 7th Street, Tucson, AZ  85705.  Please bring your own seating.

Presented by Historic 4th Avenue Coalition

Can a big-haired, plus-sized Baltimore teen with a drag queen mother and a passion for all the latest dance crazes become a local TV celebrity AND make the world safe for racial harmony? If she’s the star of a John Waters movie she can! The Pope of Trash scored the biggest commercial success of his career with Hairspray, a joyous, slyly-subversive pop art musical set in the kitschy world of the TV dance show craze of the early 1960s, a time when new dances like “The Roach,” “The Madison,” and “The Mashed Potato” were not just frivolous fun, but a way of life for gyrating teens and their mile-high beehives held together with, what else, gallons and gallons of ozone-depleting hairspray! It’s Baltimore, 1962, and Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), a rebellious teenager with the biggest bouffant on the block, battles to land a featured spot on the “The Corny Collins Show,” a popular local dance program, and win the coveted “Miss Auto Show” crown. With the help of her supportive mother, Edna (Divine), Tracy dances her way to local TV stardom, vanquishes her arch-enemy, Amber Von Tussle, and uses her newfound fame to promote racial integration on the show. Also starring Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono and Jerry Stiller. (Dir. by John Waters, 1988, USA, 92 mins., Rated PG)