A Catered Affair

There is a good deal to enjoy in the exuberant but flawed new musical, Cry-Baby. It is based—as the musical Hairspray was—on a John Waters film, and its book has been written—just like Hairspray’s—by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. These pros know how to deliver laugh-getting lines.

The cast of Cry-Baby, led by James Snyder (as the “bad boy” outsider) and Elizabeth Stanley (as the “good girl” who falls for him in this 1950s spoof), performs with conviction. And Harriet Harris is wonderful in a supporting role as the girl’s grandmother. I wish she could have been given more to do.

The energy level is high. Rob Ashford’s choreography is a treat. Dance captain Spencer Liff is a standout. Some of the songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger are really fun, including “Screw Loose” and “Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe”—the last word on teen angst. The songwriters are good at evoking high-spirited 1950s rock ‘n’ roll. I genuinely enjoyed a good deal of their work.

But, ultimately, there is not enough variety in the music. Too much of it feels similar. And the script, while quite funny, also seems to be striking the same note too often. The show is livelier and more colorful than many shows around. It skewers effectively conformist 1950s society. But for me, it came to feel like a rather clever sketch that went on for too long. Director Mark Brokaw, who has a good feel for youth-oriented shows, has made the most of this material, staging it with elan. But he has directed some better youth-oriented plays, like Kenneth Lonnergan’s “This is Our Youth” and Lynda Barry’s “The Good Times Are Killing Me,” both of which made us laugh, but also touched us and offered insights. This show made me laugh a lot—but that was all.

Chip Deffaa
Cabaret Scenes
May 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org