Hairspray Original Broadway Cast Recording CD

The cast recording for the Broadway musical of John Waters's 1988 paean to dance, music, big beautiful women, and integration is a sheer delight. It's wonderfully upbeat all the way through, with a classic feel that's in keeping with the story's setting in the early 1960s. The characters come alive in these songs, from Marissa Jaret Winokur's (Tracy Turnblad) opening lines in "Good Morning Baltimore" to the stunningly upbeat finale, "You Can't Stop the Beat." The music is by Marc Shaiman, whose recent projects include South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, as well as a number of film soundtracks, and his compositions are simultaneously solid and exuberant. Shaiman and Scott Wittman's lyrics brim over with the unreserved passions and primary-color emotions that made the film so successful. Regardless of one's familiarity with the story or the stage production, it's hard to avoid the appeal of this recording; even the less cheerful songs are awash in bright colors, without disrespect for their subjects. - Genevieve Williams

Track Listing:

Good Morning Baltimore
Nicest Kids In Town, The
Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now
I Can Hear The Bells
Miss Baltimore Crabs, (The Legend Of)
It Takes Two
Welcome To The '60s
Run And Tell That
Big, Blonde & Beautiful
Big Dollhouse, The
Good Morning Baltimore - (reprise)
Timeless To Me, (You're)
Without Love
I Know Where I've Been
Hairspray, (It's)
Cooties
You Can't Stop The Beat