'Spray Onstage

If someone had told me when I was a teenager that in the future John Waters would be producing family entertainment, I would have laughed in their face like a mad hyena. Back then my favorite John Waters film was Pink Flamingos, which ends with a 300-pound transvestite eating a...

By John Freeman

June 12, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

If someone had told me when I was a teenager that in the future John Waters would be producing family entertainment, I would have laughed in their face like a mad hyena. Back then my favorite John Waters film was Pink Flamingos, which ends with a 300-pound transvestite eating a fresh serving of doggy droppings. Over the years, however, Waters' films became a bit more mainstream. The sleaze that he had become infamous for became more subtle with each film. By 1988, when his original film Hairspray was released, the filth had transformed into campy nostalgia. Still entertaining, but the days of Desperate Living and Female Trouble were gone. Waters still made great flicks, but now he had studio backing. It's the American dream: scrawny gay underground filmmaker becomes a success and gets rich. When I heard they were turning Hairspray into a Broadway musical, I was a little shocked. When I heard they were making the musical into a second movie it was too "meta" to comprehend. It's a strange trend, turning movies into musicals and then re-making the musicals into a second movie. Let's hope they never do that with Face/Off. Come enjoy the nostalgic glory of Hairspray at the Fair Park Music Hall Tuesday through June 29. Visit ticketmaster.com for info.
June 24-29, 2008

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.