Hairspray

Book excerpt: In Hairspray, it's 1962--the fifties are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion: to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, The Corny Collins Show, and overnight is transformed from an awkward overweight outsider into an irrespressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning blond princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray! Based on John Waters's 1988 film, the musical comedy Hairspray opened on Broadway in August 2002 to rave reviews. Hairspray: The Roots includes the libretto of the show--along with hilarious anecdotes from the authors, to say nothing of dance step diagrams and full-color bouffant wigs to copy and cut out--along with all the creative energy, brilliant color, and full-out emotion that have made the musical "a great big, gorgeous hit . . . [that] is a triumph on all levels" (Clive Barnes, The New York Post).