July Cinema Cult Classics - American Musicals: Doo Wop and Divas!

This month we explore American life through history and musical genres. One of our films, Dreamgirls from 2006, comes from that most American of art forms, the Broadway musical, while another, Hairspray from 1988, became a later musical triumph on stage. Come finish the 2023/2024 season with tuneful films with heart and substance.

Joe Wicht, local pianist and popular music expert, will co-host the July 19 screening of Hairspray. There may even be some live music on tap.

July 19 - Hairspray (1988), 90 minutes, directed by John Waters, starring Divine, Ricki Lake, and Ruth Brown.

This is the original - before the Broadway touring musical or its 2007 film adaptation. John Waters fashioned this affectionate funny feel good tribute to his hometown of Baltimore in the early 1960s, when record hops were all the craze. But they had yet to racially integrate, and a group of teens set out to remedy a social injustice. Waters’s trademark louche style is on display here; there’s not a lot of subtlety. And the original Hairspray is not a traditional musical, but it’s infused with so many hip swaying toe-tapping songs by doo wop and rock and roll master Kenny Vance that it might as well be.

July 26 SEASON FINALE - Dreamgirls (2006), 129 minutes, directed by Bill Condon, starring Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson

It took 25 years to get the 1981 Tony awarded Dreamgirls on the screen, and great care was taken by director-screenwriter Bill Condon (Chicago) to get it right. Dreamgirls comes with a hugely talented ensemble - Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, and Jennifer Hudson, the latter winning an Oscar for her singing-acting tour de force. This roman a clef was inspired by The Supremes and their journey from humble 1960s Detroit girl group to global superstars. But Dreamgirls is more than a dissection of Motown and The Supremes. It becomes a fantasia of sorts of American R&B music and the whole glorious, sordid, heartbreaking, and triumphant business of American entertainment.

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute