Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, Hairspray

Collaborators for nearly four decades, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the producers of the $75 million musical Hairspray have shown a particular affection and affinity for showbiz settings and its people. As they explain, their hands-on producing is essential for the projects they do, from Bette Midler's TV version of Gypsy to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Cinderella with Brandy and Whitney Houston to Chicago and now Hairspray, the movie remake where John Travolta took 14 months before saying yes to donning a fat suit and playing the mother of 1962 Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad (30 minutes).

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