I saw Cry-Baby last night. I liked it. I wasn't blown away. There are some good performances and Rob Ashford does a great job with choreography. I especially liked the "tap dance" number. It's colorful (lots of pastels and bright colors). The request to turn off your cell phone and unwrap candies is funny and the exit music is also a lot of fun.
It's one of those (for me anyway) hard to categorize shows. I liked it (as I just said) but nothing really stands out as WONDERFUL. I'm a big fan of Harriet Harris and she's fine as the "conflicted" grandmother. Christopher J. Hanke who plays the "good boy" and Elizabeth Stanley who plays the "good girl gone bad" are both fun to watch but Hanke looks (to me) like Mark-Paul Gosselaar (the blond kid from Saved by the Bell). His first Broadway show was the jaw-dropping In My Life. Stanley reminds me of Sherie Rene Scott. James Snyder works his butt off as Cry-Baby and has lots of fun on stage. Alli Mauzey is VERY funny as a crazy girl in love with Cry-Baby and/or whoever her inner voices tell her to be in love with. The music is cute (if formulaic) and toe-tapping for the time it's being played but it doesn't stick around in your head (that's probably a good thing). There isn't a song I strongly remember. At about 2 and a quarter hours it's still a bit too long. There are, IIRC, something like 18 or 19 songs in the show. Some could be cut or trimmed without losing any flow or understanding. The humor isn't especially crass, although it is even more adult than Hairspray (many of the people involved in that show are part of this one). It is based on a John Waters film after all so you have to expect some crude moments. I don't know the film at all so I can't compare the two pieces. It's just missing a spark that the original production of Hairspray had (the current Hairspray does NOT hold up well, IMHO, it's tired and not very funny). I went in with no preconceptions, no agendas or biases. I just wish I liked it more. I like it enough, but not enough to see it again. As far as recommending it, I don't know. If you know and like the movie you will probably enjoy the show. If you don't know anything about it you may leave the theatre, like me, wondering what all the fuss was about in California. I don't have a clue how this will play out with the critics. There are definitely good moments in the show and if/when it goes to TDF (right now all seats for previews are $54 dollars based on the fact that the show takes place in 1954) it would be a good buy but $115...I don't think so. There will be $35 rear mezz seats when the show officially opens and those will be snapped up by the theatre rats (like me) but, based on audience reaction last night, I don't think it will do overwhelming business. As most theatregoers know, a standing ovation is almost de rigeur nowadays but there were not a lot of standees last night (the theatre was also not full). It's not a strong season for new musicals so CB will definitely be in the list of Tony noms for Best Musical but I don't know that it will win anything.
Anyway, as I ramble on for paragraph after paragraph, those are my thoughts on Cry-Baby. Take 'em or leave 'em.
Later, gaters.
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