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Cry-Baby (musical)
Encyclopedia
Cry-Baby is a musical
based on the 1990 John Waters
movie of the same name
. The music is by David Javerbaum
and Adam Schlesinger
, and the book is by Mark O'Donnell
and Thomas Meehan
. O'Donnell and Meehan also adapted Waters' film Hairspray for the musical stage. The musical focuses on Baltimore teenager Allison Vernon-Williams, who is drawn across the tracks from her 1954 finishing-school background into a relationship with the orphaned Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, the leader of a pack of lowlives.
in San Diego, California on November 18, 2007 and ran through December 16. Previews began on Broadway
at the Marquis Theatre
on March 15, 2008, with an official opening on April 24, 2008. Directed by Mark Brokaw
with choreography by Rob Ashford
, the cast featured Harriet Harris and James Snyder as "Cry-Baby".
The Broadway production closed following the matinée performance on June 22. The show played 45 previews
and 68 performances.
in early 2012. It will have a "smaller band, reduced to six pieces, and a smaller cast of 16."
Act II
, in the Wall Street Journal, wrote that "the new John Waters musical, is campy, cynical, totally insincere and fabulously well crafted. And funny. Madly, outrageously funny." Similarly, Newsday
offered that the musical is "pleasantly demented and - deep in the sweet darkness of its loopy heart - more true to the cheerful subversion of a John Waters movie than its sentimental big sister Hairspray.
On the other hand, Ben Brantley
, in the New York Times, wrote that the show is "without flavor: sweet, sour, salty, putrid or otherwise. This show in search of an identity has all the saliva-stirring properties of week-old pre-chewed gum.... Mr. Ashford brings his customary gymnastic vigor to the choreography: lots of revved-up jumping jacks, push-ups and leg lifts, usually led by a trio of athletic muscle boys." Variety
added that "watered-down Waters has yielded a flavorless Broadway musical that revels in its down-and-dirtiness yet remains stubbornly synthetic. There's a lot of talent, sass and sweat onstage, particularly in the dance department, plus a sprinkling of wit in the show's good-natured vulgarity. But somehow, it never quite ignites." The New York Sun opined that O'Donnell and Meehan "had far more success with another retro-themed Waters adaptation, Hairspray.... Cry-Baby is content to stay in the shallow end and focus on a standard wrong-side-of-the-tracks tale.... But rather than supply a jolt of not-too-outsider-energy, [the songwriters] have instead coasted on their magpie skills, tossing out an undistinguished stream of pastiche numbers. The lyrics occasionally have a welcome crispness.... The songs themselves, however, are as generic as the lyrics are pointed: It's the first time I can recall forgetting a show's melodies before they were even finished."
USA Today
wrote "The rockabilly-inspired numbers that David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger have crafted for Cry-Baby aren't as ambitious or infectious [as Hairspray], but the show is similarly good-hearted, and has more of a Waters edge. Javerbaum and Schlesinger's lyrics and Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan's book are both more inventively crass and less snarky than those of other contemporary musical winkfests; you get the sense that these writers share Waters' affection for his goofy subjects."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
based on the 1990 John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
movie of the same name
Cry-Baby
Cry-Baby is a 1990 American teen musical film written and directed by John Waters. It stars Johnny Depp as 1950s teen rebel "Cry-Baby" Wade Walker, and also features an expansive ensemble cast that includes Amy Locane, Iggy Pop, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake, Kim McGuire, David Nelson, Susan Tyrrell, and...
. The music is by David Javerbaum
David Javerbaum
David Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and former executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was hired as a staff writer there in 1999, promoted to head writer in 2002 and attained EP status at the end of 2006. He has won 11 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, two Peabody Awards...
and Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger
Adam Schlesinger is an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has been nominated for Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy , and Golden Globe Awards. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award....
, and the book is by Mark O'Donnell
Mark O'Donnell
Mark O’Donnell is an American writer and humorist. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1976. He was a member of the Harvard Lampoon, where he held the position of Ibis...
and Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College...
. O'Donnell and Meehan also adapted Waters' film Hairspray for the musical stage. The musical focuses on Baltimore teenager Allison Vernon-Williams, who is drawn across the tracks from her 1954 finishing-school background into a relationship with the orphaned Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, the leader of a pack of lowlives.
Production
The musical premiered at the La Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
in San Diego, California on November 18, 2007 and ran through December 16. Previews began on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...
on March 15, 2008, with an official opening on April 24, 2008. Directed by Mark Brokaw
Mark Brokaw
Mark Brokaw is a stage director. He won the Drama Desk Award, Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Director of a Play for How I Learned to Drive.Brokaw was raised in Aledo, Illinois and graduated from the Yale Drama School...
with choreography by Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford is an American choreographer and director. He is a seven-time Tony Award nominee , five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.-Biography:...
, the cast featured Harriet Harris and James Snyder as "Cry-Baby".
The Broadway production closed following the matinée performance on June 22. The show played 45 previews
Preview (theatre)
Previews are a set of public performances of a theatrical presentation that precede its official opening. The purpose of previews is to allow the director and crew to identify problems and opportunities for improvement that weren't found during rehearsals and to make adjustments before critics are...
and 68 performances.
Subsequent activities
According to David Javerbaum, he is revising the musical. The revised version is expected to be produced at the New Line Theatre in St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
in early 2012. It will have a "smaller band, reduced to six pieces, and a smaller cast of 16."
Cast
- Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker - James SnyderJames SnyderJames Snyder may refer to:*James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem*Jimmy Snyder , American racecar driver*Jim Snyder , Major League Baseball player and coach...
- Allison Vernon-Williams - Elizabeth Stanley
- Mrs. Vernon-Williams - Harriet Harris
- Dupree - Chester Gregory IIChester GregoryChester Gregory is an award-winning Broadway actor and musician.-Broadway roles:*Sister Act as Eddie*Dreamgirls as James "Thunder" Early *Hairspray as Seaweed*Tarzan as Terk*The Jackie Wilson Story as Jackie Wilson...
- Baldwin - Christopher J. HankeChristopher HankeChristopher Jason Hanke , often credited as Christopher J. Hanke, is an American actor known for his roles on Broadway and television.- Early life :...
- Pepper Walker - Carly Jibson
- Wanda Woodward - Lacey Kohl
- Mona Malnorowski, a/k/a/ Hatchet-Face - Tory Ross (replaced Courtney Balan (out due to injury) in previews)
- Lenora - Alli MauzeyAlli MauzeyAlli Mauzey is an American actress from Anaheim Hills, California.She made her Broadway debut as Brenda in Hairspray in 2003. Her "big break" came when she starred as Lenora in the Broadway musical Cry Baby for which she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Drama League Award.In...
- Judge Stone - Richard PoeRichard PoeRichard Poe is an American actor. He has worked in movies, television and on Broadway....
Musical numbers
Act I- "The Anti-Polio Picnic" - Mrs. Vernon-Williams, Allison, Baldwin, Ensemble
- "Watch Your Ass" - Pepper, Wanda, Hatchet-Face, Dupree, Cry-Baby, Ensemble
- "I'm Infected" - Allison, Cry-Baby, Ensemble
- "Squeaky Clean" - Baldwin, The Whiffles
- "Nobody Gets Me" - Cry-Baby, Pepper, Wanda, Hatchet-Face, Ensemble
- "Nobody Gets Me (reprise)" - Allison
- "Jukebox Jamboree" - Dupree
- "A Whole Lot Worse" - Pepper, Wanda, Hatchet-Face
- "Screw Loose" - Lenora
- "Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby (Baby Baby)" - Cry-Baby, Allison, Ensemble
- "Girl, Can I Kiss You...?" - Cry-Baby, Allison, Ensemble
- "I'm Infected (Reprise)" - Allison, Cry-Baby
- "You Can't Beat the System" - Company
Act II
- "Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe" - Allison, Cry-Baby, Dupree, Pepper, Wanda, Hatchet-Face, Mrs. Vernon-Williams, Ensemble
- "All in My Head" - Baldwin, Lenora, Ensemble
- "Jailyard Jubilee" - Dupree, Ensemble
- "A Little Upset" - Cry-Baby, Dupree, Allison, Ensemble
- "I Did Something Wrong...Once" - Mrs. Vernon-Williams
- "Thanks for the Nifty Country!" - Baldwin, The Whiffles
- "This Amazing Offer" - Baldwin, The Whiffles
- "Do That Again" - Cry-Baby, Allison
- "Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again" - Company
Critical response
Cry-Baby received mixed reviews. Terry TeachoutTerry Teachout
Terry Teachout is a critic, biographer and blogger. He is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal, the chief culture critic of Commentary, and the author of "Sightings," a column about the arts in America that appears biweekly in the Friday Wall Street Journal...
, in the Wall Street Journal, wrote that "the new John Waters musical, is campy, cynical, totally insincere and fabulously well crafted. And funny. Madly, outrageously funny." Similarly, Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
offered that the musical is "pleasantly demented and - deep in the sweet darkness of its loopy heart - more true to the cheerful subversion of a John Waters movie than its sentimental big sister Hairspray.
On the other hand, Ben Brantley
Ben Brantley
Benjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
, in the New York Times, wrote that the show is "without flavor: sweet, sour, salty, putrid or otherwise. This show in search of an identity has all the saliva-stirring properties of week-old pre-chewed gum.... Mr. Ashford brings his customary gymnastic vigor to the choreography: lots of revved-up jumping jacks, push-ups and leg lifts, usually led by a trio of athletic muscle boys." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
added that "watered-down Waters has yielded a flavorless Broadway musical that revels in its down-and-dirtiness yet remains stubbornly synthetic. There's a lot of talent, sass and sweat onstage, particularly in the dance department, plus a sprinkling of wit in the show's good-natured vulgarity. But somehow, it never quite ignites." The New York Sun opined that O'Donnell and Meehan "had far more success with another retro-themed Waters adaptation, Hairspray.... Cry-Baby is content to stay in the shallow end and focus on a standard wrong-side-of-the-tracks tale.... But rather than supply a jolt of not-too-outsider-energy, [the songwriters] have instead coasted on their magpie skills, tossing out an undistinguished stream of pastiche numbers. The lyrics occasionally have a welcome crispness.... The songs themselves, however, are as generic as the lyrics are pointed: It's the first time I can recall forgetting a show's melodies before they were even finished."
USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote "The rockabilly-inspired numbers that David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger have crafted for Cry-Baby aren't as ambitious or infectious [as Hairspray], but the show is similarly good-hearted, and has more of a Waters edge. Javerbaum and Schlesinger's lyrics and Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan's book are both more inventively crass and less snarky than those of other contemporary musical winkfests; you get the sense that these writers share Waters' affection for his goofy subjects."
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Choreography Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography -1970s:* 1970: Ron Field – Applause** No nominees* 1971: Michael Bennett – Follies and Donald Saddler – No, No, Nanette** No nominees* 1972: Patricia Birch – Grease and Jean Erdman – Two Gentlemen of Verona... |
Rob Ashford Rob Ashford Rob Ashford is an American choreographer and director. He is a seven-time Tony Award nominee , five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.-Biography:... |
|
| Drama League Award Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing... |
Distinguished Production of a Musical | |||
| Distinguished Performance | Harriet Harris | |||
| James Snyder James Snyder James Snyder may refer to:*James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher Director, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem*Jimmy Snyder , American racecar driver*Jim Snyder , Major League Baseball player and coach... |
||||
| Alli Mauzey Alli Mauzey Alli Mauzey is an American actress from Anaheim Hills, California.She made her Broadway debut as Brenda in Hairspray in 2003. Her "big break" came when she starred as Lenora in the Broadway musical Cry Baby for which she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Drama League Award.In... |
||||
| Outer Critics Circle Award Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets... |
Outstanding New Broadway Musical | |||
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Harriet Harris | |||
| Outstanding Choreographer | Rob Ashford Rob Ashford Rob Ashford is an American choreographer and director. He is a seven-time Tony Award nominee , five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.-Biography:... |
|||
| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
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| Best Book of a Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible... |
Mark O'Donnell Mark O'Donnell Mark O’Donnell is an American writer and humorist. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1976. He was a member of the Harvard Lampoon, where he held the position of Ibis... and Thomas Meehan Thomas Meehan (writer) Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College... |
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| Best Original Score Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics... |
David Javerbaum David Javerbaum David Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and former executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was hired as a staff writer there in 1999, promoted to head writer in 2002 and attained EP status at the end of 2006. He has won 11 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, two Peabody Awards... and Adam Schlesinger Adam Schlesinger Adam Schlesinger is an American songwriter, composer and record producer. He has been nominated for Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy , and Golden Globe Awards. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Pop Music Award.... |
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| Best Choreography Tony Award for Best Choreography -1940s:* 1947: Agnes de Mille – Brigadoon / Michael Kidd – Finian's Rainbow* 1948: Jerome Robbins – High Button Shoes* 1949: Gower Champion – Lend An Ear-1950s:* 1950: Helen Tamiris – Touch and Go* 1951: Michael Kidd – Guys and Dolls... |
Rob Ashford Rob Ashford Rob Ashford is an American choreographer and director. He is a seven-time Tony Award nominee , five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.-Biography:... |
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