>> HAIRSPRAY
30 years after he put the fever into Saturday nights, Travolta is returning to the disco lights...
...only this time he’s exchanged the white suit for a dowdy dress in his gender-bending role of Edna.
The 1988 cult movie Hairspray made a star out of Ricki Lake and inspired the Broadway stage musical. Overweight Tracy (Blonsky) is obsessed by the Corny Collins Show. When auditions begin to find the show’s next dancing star, she reaches for her dancing shoes.
Travolta, donning a fat suit and dress, plays Tracy’s mother while Michelle Pfeiffer portrays a villainous TV station owner, whom, for good measure, is also the mother of Tracy’s nemesis and opposition on the dance floor.
Christopher Walken adds his usual quirky touch as Tracy’s dad (who in turn is Travolta’s husband - I hope you’re keeping up!)
It’s camper than the front row of a Scissor Sisters concert, and, with songs like Momma I’m a Big Girl Now, there will be enough catchy tunes to keep viewers dancing in the aisles.
If that’s not enough, the sight of Travolta playing a frumpy housewife should be enough to ruffle your popcorn.
Ben Gavan