Highlights
No one celebrity is so closely tied to Baltimore as filmmaker John Waters. Dubbed the "Pope of Trash" by William Burroughs, Waters has brought his eccentric and anti-establishment vision of his hometown to the screen starting with his high school film "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket." Cult, X-rated classics such as "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble" followed, but it was "Hairspray" that brought Waters mainstream attention. "Hairspray" explores 1960s racial segregation through the eyes of a chubby teen-age girl who wants to star on a local dance show. Tracy Turnblad, played by Ricki Lake in the original 1988 film, gets the show -- and the guy -- and champions racial issues with the help of...
No one celebrity is so closely tied to Baltimore as filmmaker John Waters. Dubbed the "Pope of Trash" by William Burroughs, Waters has brought his eccentric and anti-establishment vision of his hometown to the screen starting with his high school film "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket." Cult, X-rated classics such as "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble" followed, but it was "Hairspray" that brought Waters mainstream attention. "Hairspray" explores 1960s racial segregation through the eyes of a chubby teen-age girl who wants to star on a local dance show. Tracy Turnblad, played by Ricki Lake in the original 1988 film, gets the show -- and the guy -- and champions racial issues with the help of her over-protective mother, Edna, played in drag by Waters' friend and frequent star Divine. In 2002, the film was made into a hit Broadway musical starring Harvey Fierstein as Edna, and in 2007, the musical was adapted into another film starring John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron. Waters' 1990 movie musical "Cry-Baby" may follow in "Hairspray's" footsteps. The musical adaptation opened in California in November 2007 before heading to Broadway in spring 2008. Set in the 1950s, the film starred Johnny Depp as a juvenile delinquent who falls for a good girl ("square"). In addition to being a filmmaker, Waters is a photographer who exhibits at galleries nationwide.
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How well did you do on our latest writers quiz?
Thanks to all who played our latest quiz on Baltimore-area authors. For those who were stumped, here are the answers: 1. A frequent heroine in Laura Lippman novels is former reporter (and Lippman alter-ego?) Tess Monaghan, whose greyhound is named...Tags: New York Times, The Wire (tv program), David Simon, Johns Hopkins University, Death and Dying
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Britain wins 7 International Emmys
The Associated PressThe time-traveling detective show "Life on Mars" picked up its second International Emmy for best drama series, leading a British sweep of seven of the 10 awards handed out at a ceremony that also honored "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf. Sam Waterston,...Tags: Cohu Incorporated, Judith Light, Life on Mars (tv program), Literature, Theater
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Freewheeling art
Like most cities, Baltimore offers urban cyclists a fairly limited range of parking options - a lonely metal stanchion outside a coffee shop, perhaps, or an innocuous group rack outside an office building. If it offers anything at all.
But starting...Tags: Ray Lewis, Maryland, Billie Holiday, Cal Ripken Jr., Pennsylvania
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Marissa Jaret Winokur sets a return to 'Hairspray'
The Associated PressFirst Harvey Fierstein. Now Marissa Jaret Winokur. Winokur will return to "Hairspray" Dec. 9-Jan. 4 for the final four weeks of its Broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre. She will join Fierstein, her original co-star, in the long-running musical that...Tags: Harvey Fierstein, Television, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Neil Simon, Dancing
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Winokur can't stop beat: She'll be back in 'Hairspray'
Marissa Jaret Winokur will return to Hairspray on Dec. 9 for the final four weeks of its Broadway run at the Neil Simon Theatre. She will join Harvey Fierstein, her original co-star, in the long-running musical that opened in August 2002. He came back...Tags: Harvey Fierstein, Television, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Neil Simon, Dancing
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Harvey Fierstein ponders his return to 'Hairspray'
The Associated Press"It takes a village to put Edna together," says Harvey Fierstein, back on Broadway for the final weeks of "Hairspray." "But the people who help put me together can now do it faster." Fierstein has returned to the long-running musical hit for its last...Tags: Harvey Fierstein, Neil Simon, Los Angeles, Theater, Music Theater
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New first family, new community
This new president didn't promise to bring a new puppy along when his family moves into the official residence, and his overall message was more of continuity than change. And yet there was a now-familiar sense of a generational shift yesterday when...Tags: National Government, Timonium, Homewood, Barry Levinson, Government
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Readers want views of local reviewers
It infuriates me that The Baltimore Sun employs two very well-versed film critics (Michael Sragow and Chris Kaltenbach) yet runs wire-service reviews of new movies opening in Baltimore. If we wanted to read what the critic from San Francisco Chronicle or...Tags: Charles Theatre, Movies
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Curtains for 'Hairspray'
The curtain comes down on Hairspray, the musical based on the John Waters cult movie classic, on Broadway in January. That month will also see the close of Monty Python's Spamalot, also a long-running, Tony-winning best musical. Spamalot pulls up the...Tags: Harvey Fierstein, Monty Python's Spamalot, Neil Simon
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'Hairspray' sequel won't have John Travolta kicking up his heels anymore
Hold onto your beehives, Baltimore, John Travolta says he won't reprise his role as Edna Turnblad in the Hairspray sequel.
"I think once is enough," Travolta, 54, told the Sunday Herald Sun of Sydney, Australia. "I did it and I did it well, but I'm not a...Tags: Perez Hilton, John Travolta, Australia (movie)
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With a little work, she can look real bad
Molly Shattuck left the hubby, kids and credit cards in Roland Park to spend a week waiting tables and ringing up groceries in a poor Pennsylvania coal mining town. For the new reality TV show Secret Millionaire, the wife of Constellation Energy Group CEO...Tags: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Pennsylvania, Clothing and Textiles Industry, Roland Park, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
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'The B List' showcases movie critics' favorite movies you've never heard of
Associated Press Writer"The B List" (Da Capo Press. $15.95. 288 pages), edited by David Sterritt and John Anderson: The literary version of having a movie-critic friend intent on convincing you that there's a movie of which you've never heard but must see, "The B List" offers...Tags: Roger Ebert, John Sayles, Netflix Inc., Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino
Nov 30, 2008
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Nov 25, 2008
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Nov 17, 2008
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Nov 12, 2008
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Oct 23, 2008
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Oct 29, 2008
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Nov 7, 2008
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Nov 7, 2008
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