In 1988, well-known film director/writer John Waters released a movie featuring stars such as Sonny Bono, Divine and Jerry Stiller. The tagline read, “The heyday of hair-dos and hair-don'ts, heartthrobs and hefty girls, hot dates and hip talkers, beatniks and hair hoppers, and one magical potion that keeps it all together.” The working title: White Lipstick. Never heard of it? That's probably because the name was changed before the film's final release. To what? Hairspray, of course!

Despite its tagline's catchy alliteration, the early version of this summer's hit by the same name is seldom mentioned when discussing the huge success of the new movie, though the two share a timeless plot which spans the 19 years between them.

In the film, Baltimore, Maryland's Tracy Turnblad, a chubby girl with extremely tall hair, discovers that the local dance party television show is holding auditions to fill an open spot in its teenage cast. A talented dancer who loves the show (and who fantasizes about marriage to the show's leading boy, Link Larkin), she hurries to audition, only to be rejected by station manager Velma Von Tussle because of her size. Velma's prejudice also extends to the black cast members, to whom she unwillingly gives one day per month for “Negro Day,” when the show is staffed by black teenage dancers and a black co-DJ.

A sub-plot showcases the evolution of Tracy's mother, Edna, traditionally played by a male in drag costume (thank you, John Travolta), from a frightened laundress into a confident woman.

In the end, Tracy becomes friends with the black dancers (“I wish every day where Negro Day!” she cries) and they manage to successfully integrate the show. And let's not forget that also in the end, Link realizes he has fallen in love with Tracy despite the stereotypes against her outward appearance.

In between movie versions, Hairspray was transformed into a Broadway musical; songs such as “Good Morning Baltimore,” “You Can't Stop the Beat” and “Welcome to the '60s” were first written as part of the adaptation. The current version of the movie includes all of these songs and more, along with great costumes and a gold-star cast with some famous Jews like Amanda Bynes (playing the comedic Penny Pingleton, Tracy's best friend, who falls in love with a black fellow student—much to her mother's dismay), and Zac Efron, of High School Musical fame, who steals the hearts of girls everywhere as the handsome Link Larkin. The movie is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman, also Jewish, whose previous credits include Catch Me If You Can, A Walk to Remember and episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to name a few.

Also showcasing the talents of John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and newcomer Nikki Blonsky in the lead role, the updated movie easily maintains the energetic and powerful style of the stage version and grossed $27.8 million in its opening weekend, a record for a movie musical adaptation. Movie audiences across America were clearly lucky enough to discover what those with Broadway tickets already knew—that a musical can be witty, intelligent and just plain fun while still dealing with important and sensitive issues. And even though the film is set in the 1960s, its message against prejudice of any kind is still applicable today.

Hairspray may have seen a few reincarnations, but underneath its makeovers, it is still the same good old show. And it's not just for Jews, racial minorities, or those who aren't as thin as society deems they should be—it's a feel-good movie for everyone who believes in hope and change, in song and dance and courage. In the words of Hairspray: “Every year we get stronger / so shine that light, take my hand / and let's dance into tomorrow land.”

Rachel Marcus is a musical theater junkie who is currently attending Yale University with a prospective major in cognitive science (which unfortunately is mostly unrelated to musical theater). When not writing for JVibe, she spends most of her time trying to find a way to make Connecticut as warm and humid as her home state, Florida.