'Hairspray' Wins Hollywood Film Award for its Ensemble

The 11th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz, have announced that this year's festival will honor the cast of New Line Cinema's Hairspray with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting of the Year Award -- Musical/Comedy."

The awards will be bestowed upon the honorees as part of the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, October 22, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The announcement was made today by Carlos de Abreu, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Film Festival. "We are very proud that we will be recognizing the great talent in Hairspray. The cast is a fantastic ensemble of multi-talented established and emerging actors," said Mr. de Abreu.

"Hairspray, written by Leslie Dixon, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and directed by Adam Shankman, is the story of Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, who has only one passion -- dancing. Her dream is to appear on 'The Corny Collins Show,' Baltimore's hippest dance party on TV. Tracy (Nikki Blonsky) seems a natural fit for the show except for one not-so-little problem -- she doesn't fit in. However, when big hair meets big dreams anything can happen -- and does," state press notes.   The film features a screenplay by Leslie Dixon, who adapted it from Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's original book, as well as a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who contributed new songs to their existing Tony Award-winning score.

Based on the 1988 John Waters cult classic film and the critically acclaimed, Tony Award-winning Broadway hit musical, Hairspray features the all-star ensemble of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, James Marsden as Corny Collins, Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle, Zac Efron as Link Larkin, Elijah Kelley as Seaweed, Allison Janney as Prudy Pingleton and introduces eighteen-year-old newcomer Nikki Blonsky in her professional debut.

Hairspray debuted in theaters on July 20 with the largest opening weekend gross ever for a musical film. To date the film has earned over 100 million dollars domestically.

The 2007 Annual Hollywood Film Festival will take place from October 17 to 22. The Festival's screenings take place at ArcLight Theatres in Hollywood. Its Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Monday, October 22.

Visit www.hollywoodawards.com for more information on the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards.

 

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!