Meet the Cast of Hairspray

Based on the Broadway musical (which itself was based on a cult favorite 1988 film by offbeat director John Waters), the movie musical Hairspray takes place in racially segregated 1960s Baltimore. A teenager named Tracy Turnblad is determined to get a role on a local teen show called The Corny Collins Show.

Tracy's mother, Edna, is against it—but her father, Wilbur, encourages her. The station manager, Velma Von Tussle, hates both Edna and the show's monthly "Negro day," hosted by Motormouth Maybelle, in which African-American teens are allowed on. When "Negro day" is cancelled, Tracy leads a civil rights march.

While it contains a serious message, Hairspray is also a terrifically fun singing and dancing extravaganza. "Go with all your friends. Take your family. It's so entertaining," Oprah says. "It's fantastic!"

The cast performs three songs from the movie—"Good Morning Baltimore," "Ladies Choice" and "Run and Tell That."