Cry-Baby: Flawed But Fun

I have a feeling that my fellow bloggers are going to think less of me for saying this, but I actually kinda liked Cry-Baby. I went to see the show with a bunch of my blogosphere buddies, and I got the sense that nobody else was really smelling what the production staff were cooking. I was, but I will accede that the show is far from perfect.

What's funny here is that the reviews from the San Diego production were pretty darned good, but word-of-mouth in New York has been mixed, and that's putting things charitably. Maybe it's because I went in with lowered expectations, but I wound up being somewhat entertained.

I've always been a fan of John Waters' movies, although I'm keenly aware that he's not so much a great director as a man with a decidedly twisted vision of humankind. But both "Hairspray" and "Cry-Baby" represent decidedly mainstream efforts on Waters' part, at least compared to his earlier films, such as "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble." We won't be seeing Broadway musicals based on those two films any time soon. I remember when the "Cry-Baby" movie came out thinking that it was too much like the original "Hairspray" movie: although the film tried hard to be its own entity, the comparisons were inevitable. Similarly, the musical Cry-Baby can't escape the specter of the Hairspray musical.

Cry-Baby the musical is certainly an energetic show, with lots of humorous references to 1950s-related subject matter -- polio, communism, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg -- although some of the things that the authors clearly intend to be funny so far aren't coming off that way (e.g. the gas-mask gavotte). The show starts off well, but unravels and becomes unfocused in the middle of the first act. In general, there's not enough dramatic cohesion between numbers, and some come out of nowhere: "Screw Loose" and "All in My Head" are decent songs, but the dramatic justification for both is sketchy at present.

In general, the songs by Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum have clever lyrics, but unmemorable music. The book by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell is plodding but often funny. Rob Ashford as always does a bang-up job with the dancing, but there seems to be something a bit desperate in how much the creators use dance to cover up holes in the plot or set changes. Overall, watching the Cry-Baby I had the same gut feel I had watching Legally Blonde: that the show was making up in volume and energy what it lacks in substance. Cry-Baby shows every sign of becoming this season's upbeat mediocrity: two years ago it was The Wedding Singer, last year it was Legally Blonde.

The cast is more than serviceable, sometimes even inspired. Tony winner Harriet Harris is engaging as Mrs. Vernon-Williams. Newcomer James Snyder is effective but not overwhelming as the eponymous Cry-Baby. As I was watching Elizabeth Stanley, who is sweet and sympathetic as Allison, I knew I had seen her before, but I couldn't place her at first. Turns out she was April in the recent Company revival. One standout in the supporting cast was Alli Mauzey as the wacko Lenora. She's the only person on stage who really seemed like someone out of a John Waters movie.

I think there's a crowd-pleaser in here somewhere if director Mark Brokaw can find the show's proper focus. We noticed that John Waters and Thomas Meehan were in attendance that night, as presumably were the rest of the creative staff, this being an early preview and all. The show still has four more weeks of previews (for a total of six, which is a bit unusual): will that be enough time to pull Cry-Baby into shape? 

Comments

[ModFab]

Well put, Chris. This is exactly the way I felt about the show, too...definitely flawed, but not without potential. But honestly, I haven't found anyone but you and me who don't detest the show. The blogosphere and the forum blasters have been really tough on it, haven't they?

It'll never be a classic for the ages, but here's to hoping they find a way to pull it together before opening night.

[Esther]

Hey, I love reading other people's opinions. Often, they bring up points I hadn't thought about. How boring would it be if we all loved or hated everything!