#1
Posted: 3/19/08 at 6:03pm
CRY-BABY is, without asterisks or qualifications, the worst musical I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of bad musicals. This show makes PIRATE QUEEN look like a hall of famer. This show makes GOOD VIBRATIONS (which is now #2 on my list of bad musicals) look like Shakespeare. Hell, it makes Kathleen Marshall's pathetic production of GREASE look good.
And you can't even blame it on the fact that it's the 4th preview. They had a six (or so) month run at the La Jolla Playhouse. A run that got relatively good notices, no less! This is not DEUCE, which opened cold in New York with two elderly ladies (at the top of thier game) having trouble following the hearing test of the tennis balls bouncing. This is a show that had all the time in the world.
And they still have a month or so of previews, but, unfortunately, you can't do a complete overhaul of a $10 million (I'm guessing) musical in a month, from writing to casting to design.
It's more-or-less the same story as ALL SHOOK UP...bad-to-the-bone guy shakes things up in the square town, tries woo the square girl of his dreams, goes to jail trying, and ends up integrating the cools and squares. But ALL SHOOK UP had a lot going for it - fun direction, dynamic leads, and a memorable score. CRY-BABY has none of those.
James Snyder and Elizabeth Stanley. Dance: 10. Personality/Charisma: 0. They sing fine. Neither have charisma and they don't have chemistry. He's too good to be bad, she reads WAY too old.
Harriet Harris is too underused for her usual scenery chewing to get in the way, and she sounds like a cat getting skinned when she sings, but, God bless her, she's the most dynamic one on stage.
Alli Mauzey, "You Gotta Get A Gimmick." A lot of fun in a role that would get applause no matter who played it. Her big number, "Screw Loose," is the one song in the show which truly captures the 'John Waters' persona.
Christopher Hanke is truly defined as a square. Chester Gregory looks bored stiff. The trio of women are mostly entertaining.
David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger's score is derivative of traditional 50s beat, which is the exact same mold as Grease. But Grease had a memorable score. Not a memorable song in this lot, though Rob Ashford's always strong choreography saves two of the numbers - "Girl, Can I Kiss You...?" and the ensuing sex scene, as well as "A Little Upset," the dynamic number which uses license plates as taps.
I frankly expected more from Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, whose book for HAIRSPRAY was so strong and witty, and followed the 'John Waters' theme so well. I give them credit - they were sitting in the last row taking notes (though it seems like Meehan is shaking like there's no tomorrow), but, unfortunately, all the time in the world can't make this thing funny. There was 1 gag I liked, which nobody else got - Judge Igneous Stone.
It's hard to believe Mark Brokaw is the guy who directed stuff like How I Learned to Drive and As Bees in Honey Drown. Though I saw from his bio that this is his first real musical (if you don't count MARTY with John C. Reilly), so I'll just blame it on the fact that you can't always get it right the first time.
And people leapt to their feet. Not even to flee like I did. They leapt to give the cast a standing ovation. Mediocrity sells, I guess, but this isn't even mediocrity.
Though I can't help but wonder what Megan Hilty would do with the lead role...
And you can't even blame it on the fact that it's the 4th preview. They had a six (or so) month run at the La Jolla Playhouse. A run that got relatively good notices, no less! This is not DEUCE, which opened cold in New York with two elderly ladies (at the top of thier game) having trouble following the hearing test of the tennis balls bouncing. This is a show that had all the time in the world.
And they still have a month or so of previews, but, unfortunately, you can't do a complete overhaul of a $10 million (I'm guessing) musical in a month, from writing to casting to design.
It's more-or-less the same story as ALL SHOOK UP...bad-to-the-bone guy shakes things up in the square town, tries woo the square girl of his dreams, goes to jail trying, and ends up integrating the cools and squares. But ALL SHOOK UP had a lot going for it - fun direction, dynamic leads, and a memorable score. CRY-BABY has none of those.
James Snyder and Elizabeth Stanley. Dance: 10. Personality/Charisma: 0. They sing fine. Neither have charisma and they don't have chemistry. He's too good to be bad, she reads WAY too old.
Harriet Harris is too underused for her usual scenery chewing to get in the way, and she sounds like a cat getting skinned when she sings, but, God bless her, she's the most dynamic one on stage.
Alli Mauzey, "You Gotta Get A Gimmick." A lot of fun in a role that would get applause no matter who played it. Her big number, "Screw Loose," is the one song in the show which truly captures the 'John Waters' persona.
Christopher Hanke is truly defined as a square. Chester Gregory looks bored stiff. The trio of women are mostly entertaining.
David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger's score is derivative of traditional 50s beat, which is the exact same mold as Grease. But Grease had a memorable score. Not a memorable song in this lot, though Rob Ashford's always strong choreography saves two of the numbers - "Girl, Can I Kiss You...?" and the ensuing sex scene, as well as "A Little Upset," the dynamic number which uses license plates as taps.
I frankly expected more from Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, whose book for HAIRSPRAY was so strong and witty, and followed the 'John Waters' theme so well. I give them credit - they were sitting in the last row taking notes (though it seems like Meehan is shaking like there's no tomorrow), but, unfortunately, all the time in the world can't make this thing funny. There was 1 gag I liked, which nobody else got - Judge Igneous Stone.
It's hard to believe Mark Brokaw is the guy who directed stuff like How I Learned to Drive and As Bees in Honey Drown. Though I saw from his bio that this is his first real musical (if you don't count MARTY with John C. Reilly), so I'll just blame it on the fact that you can't always get it right the first time.
And people leapt to their feet. Not even to flee like I did. They leapt to give the cast a standing ovation. Mediocrity sells, I guess, but this isn't even mediocrity.
Though I can't help but wonder what Megan Hilty would do with the lead role...
Updated On: 3/19/08 at 06:03 PM
Sorry you didn't like it. I definitely get the similarities to ALL SHOOK UP; I've called this show ALL SHOOK UP 2.0. I felt like it was a better ASU.
