Trivialidades for
Hairspray (2007)

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• Nikki Blonsky's film debut.
  
  
• Cameo: [Ricki Lake (Tracy Turnblad in the first Hairspray (1988), director Adam Shankman, and songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman] [William Morris talent agents in the finale - note Shaiman's very out of character and period beard.]
  
  
• The original Broadway cast included Marissa Jaret Winokur (Tracy), Harvey Fierstein (Edna), Clarke Thorell (Corny Collins), Laura Bell Bundy (Amber), 'Matthew Morrison' (Link), Kerry Butler (Penny), Linda Hart (Velma), Dick Latessa (Wilbur), Corey Reynolds (Seaweed) and Mary Bond Davis (Motormouth Maybelle).
  
  

• Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray (1988), appears as Mr. Pinky in this version.
  
  
• Billy Crystal and Jim Broadbent were both considered for the role of Wilbur Turnblad before the role eventually went to Christopher Walken.
  
  
• Elijah Kelley had to go through an hour of hair dressing every day.
  
  
• It took John Travolta four hours to put on the fat suit and make-up required for him to become Edna Turnblad.
  
  
• Amanda Bynes' bunches took two hours in hair and make-up every morning.
  
  
• To facilitate filming for the "Run and Tell That" dance number, the production cut up a 1957 GMC transit bus into 9 pieces.
  
  
• Nikki Blonsky revealed on the May 16, 2007 episode of "Oprah" that when she entered the studio on the first day, John Travolta had said to her, "Come to Momma".
  
  
• The soundtrack for the new "Hairspray" features a rendition of all of the "original" Tracys (Ricki Lake from the first film, Marissa Jaret Winokur from the Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from this film) singing "Mama, I'm A Big Girl Now". Harvey Fierstein also appears in this song near the end, but isn't credited.
  
  
• According to Film Journal International, the song "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)" was added in as at the suggestion of Michelle Pfeiffer to replace a scripted scene, giving her the chance to sing.
  
  
• Two characters not featured in this movie that were in the 1988 film are Arvin Hodgepile and Franklin von Tussle. The characters were both played by actors who have died since the original film: Divine in 1988 and Sonny Bono in 1998.
  
  
• Travolta's fat-suit weighed more than 30 pounds.
  
  
• There are 5 gel-filled silicone prosthetic appliances for parts of Edna's face
  
  
• One day, while the cast was waiting between takes, John Travolta began singing "Summer Nights" from his first musical, Grease (1978). Co-stars Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron were so excited that they immediately began sending text messages to their friends about what was happening.
  
  
• Penny Pingleton's dress in the "You Can't Stop the Beat" song was made from the curtains in her room.
  
  
• Most of the cast jokingly called the song "You Can't Stop the Beat" "you can't stop to breathe" because of its pace and fast-moving lyrics. The exception was Queen Latifah, who said that she had no trouble singing a lot of words very quickly because she had started her career as a rapper, and that's what rappers do.
  
  
• Meryl Streep and Madonna were considered for the role of Velma Von Tussle.
  
  
• Costume designer Rita Ryack actually got vintage outfits for some of the characters to wear during a number of the scenes shot in the high school. Link Larkin's blue sweater was a sweater vest found at a vintage shop.
  
  
• Season 3 "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002) runner up Diana DeGarmo auditioned to play Penny Pingleton but did not get the part because she was "too short". She is, however, in the Broadway show.
  
  
• Amanda Bynes' character, Penny, is seen constantly eating lollipops. Her father, who is a dentist, became very worried for Amanda's dental health, as it was estimated she ate about 40 lollipops a day. Amanda told him that she wasn't really eating all of them, when in reality she ate them all.
  
  
• This 2007 production of "Hairspray" is the first time a John Waters story made into a movie was not filmed in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland; Toronto was used instead.
  
  
• Nikki Blonsky celebrated her 18th birthday with her family and friends while on the set of this movie.
  
  
• The creative team modified several songs from the Original Broadway production for use in this film. In addition, several vocal numbers from the stage musical were removed altogether, while several new songs were added: - "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a number performed in the stage musical by Tracy, Penny, and Amber opposite their respective mothers, was reluctantly cut from the script during preproduction - but was sung over the credits by all three "original" Tracys (Ricki Lake, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Nikki Blonsky). While the crew liked the song, screenwriter Leslie Dixon felt the number did not adequately advance the plot, and would also be impossible to film without a three-way split screen, which neither she nor director Adam Shankman wanted to use. - "It Takes Two", sung in the stage musical by Link to Tracy during her first day on "The Corny Collins Show", was relegated to an earlier position in the film, where Link sings it just before Tracy learns that the TV station will be holding auditions for a new Council Member. However, only the song's coda remains in the final release print. - "Cooties", performed by Amber at the climactic "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant in the stage musical, is also instead present in the film as an instrumental during the pageant contestants' dance-off. "Mama" and "It Takes Two" are also present in the final film as instrumentals during scenes featuring broadcasts of "The Corny Collins Show". - A reprise of "Big, Blond, and Beautiful", sung by Velma and Edna, was added to the film as part of a new subplot involving Velma Von Tussle's attempt to seduce Tracy's father Wilbur. - "I Can Wait", a climactic ballad written for the film, was to have been performed by Tracy as she is hiding out in Penny's basement. The sequence was indeed filmed, but was removed from the final release print. - "The New Girl in Town" was a number written for the stage musical, but dropped during the workshopping stage. The song was resurrected and used in this film to underscore Tracy's rise-to-fame montage, and also to show "The Corny Collins Show" on Negro Day. While Negro Day is a pivotal element of all three versions of "Hairspray", it is never seen in the 1988 film or the stage musical. - "Ladies' Choice", an upbeat song performed by Link at a school dance, was added to the film to replace "The Madison", a dance number carried over into the stage musical from the original 1988 film. - "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" was written for the film for use during the closing credits.
  
  
• Six songs were written for the film, but didn't make the final cut. "I Can Wait" (the only one filmed, available on Special Edition DVD), "Mrs. Von Tussle Says" (meant to replace Miss Baltimore Crabs), "Save Your Applause 'Till The End" (Velma follows Tracy around, complaining), "Turn Back The Hands of Time" (Original "Come So Far"), "It Ain't Over 'Till the Fat Lady Sings" (Tracy confronts Amber at the Miss Teenage Hairspray Pagant), "It Doesn't Get Better Than This" (Wilbur comforts Tracy). All the songs are on the 2-Disc Special Edition Soundtrack.
  
  
• Cameo: [John Waters] [The flasher in the opening 'Good Morning Baltimore' sequence.]
  
  
• In a classroom scene a teacher mentions that Everest is not Earth's highest geographical point. She asks what the actual highest point is and there isn't time for an answer before the bell. The answer is Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador, which is the furthest point from the Earth's center, but closer to local sea level than Everest. (The Earth bulges at the equator.)
  
  
• After Penny and Seaweed fall in love, she sings, "And if they try to stop us, Seaweed/We'll call the N-double A-CP," a nod to the fact that until the 1967 initiation of the Supreme Court litigation that became the Loving v. Virginia decision, interracial marriage was illegal in 17 states, including Maryland. This film is set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962, so Seaweed and Penny's relationship was not just unusual or taboo but in fact grounds for imprisonment.
  
  
• In the scene in which Prudy Pingleton reads the bible out loud to herself, she is reading from Genesis 19:30-38, in which Lot's daughters do indeed make their father drunk and then conceive children with him.
  
  
• Hairspray opened at the Neil Simon Theater on August 15, 2002 and has had 2375 performances as of May 2008.
  
  

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