Tue., May 30, 8 p.m., $5 suggested donation, The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St., www.foundationarts.org

"Oh Corey, do you really think I'm good enough?" purred Ricki Lake as aspiring dancer Tracy Turnblad in John Waters' Hairspray. Cheers of affirmation filled the Rotunda despite the small Tuesday night gathering.

Waters' cartoonlike spin on Turnblad's character—plump, confident and undeniably better at shaking her junk than thin blond nemesis Amber von Tussle—was a hit with those attending the launch of the Fat Girl Film Fest series, organized by local pals Rashida Holmes and Zoe Meleo-Erwin.

The mostly twentysomething, pajama-clad crowd clapped for Turnblad's high points and jeered at beehive-sporting, bleached-out von Tussle. Pajamas were the suggested dress code; the intention was to give the night the comfortable feel of a slumber party. One older gentleman pulled off his silk bathrobe perfectly.

"I'm big, blond and beautiful!" a grinning Lake shouted at the camera, her magnificent hair threatening to upset her center of gravity. The applause was deafening.

Afterward, as the credits rolled down the Rotunda's wall, members of the audience imitated 1960s dancing with twists and gyrations.

Holmes and Meleo-Erwin, who met in New York City at a plus-size flea market, started the monthly series to encourage women to accept and love their bodies.

"We wanted to promote fat girl love in Philly," says Meleo-Erwin, adding that proceeds from each night go to local organizations that advocate for body image empowerment. Coming soon: Real Women Have Curves, Patricia Cardoso's 2002 coming-of-age film about a voluptuous Mexican-American girl.