My Thoughts on CRY-BABY- Page 3

[ahimsa]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 11:09am

This is a worthy show. The standout is Rob Ashford's choreography. It's concentrated to the talent they've hired and is outstanding. Athletic, sensual, punctuated, amazing. Allison channels a bit too much of April from Company but does an admiral job in the role. I just don't believe there's such a bad girl inside her. But I like her in the lead here more than I did Laura BB in Legally Blonde. Perhaps a bit too old for the part (sorry). Cry-Baby is not as "larger than life" as the role commands, but certainly more so than his square nemesis, but he does deliver.

My fundamental problem with the show rests with the first number "Anti polio picnic" It's a mess that leaves you wondering "just who are these 'squares'?" To me, there is nothing wrong with them, nor should there be. They are not the bad guys, they're just the established status quo. The Water's sick humor with the man in the polio tank flops, as does the corn on the cob eating schtick. Geeks? nerds? richie riches? cornballs? It just leaves you guessing as to who they are and the number leaves you numb. You almost feel the strain of Harriet trying to pick the show up after the number. Kudos to her. Then enter the drakes. The Hatchet-face trio should work together as well as the stripper-set in Gypsy, but they don't. There's no meld there. Why would this dis-jointed set hang out together? Outside of that, they do try, and give the show what spark they can. Until you get to Turkey Point and the zealous "Screw Loose" number, you don't slide into the show, but Alli's performance starts the roll in rock n' roll. The Elvis channeling is effective. Sit back and enjoy some fun camp and young energy.

The three principal male dancers are so hot and dynamic. Song lyrics are incredible throughout and I will definitely be buying the cast recording. Sets are numerous, clever and add the change outs add to the show's high energy and youthfulness.

"I've done something wrong once" is a gem of a number fantastically performed by Miss Harriet. As does M A H and Woe, how classic fifties a tune.

My only regret is that the jailhouse rock number from the movie is not in the show.

My advice. Go for $54 and enjoy. If you want a Broadway head trip, there's South P, Gypsy and Sunday w/George. What a showdown in the Tony Revival race! Those shows are Broadway at its best. This is meant to be fun aka Full Monty and Hairspray... and I felt it qualifyingly delivers enough.
Updated On: 4/3/08 at 11:09 AM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 11:19am

Ahimsa, excellent recap. I did all four of those shows in one weekend (Gypsy, South Pacific, Sunday and Cry-Baby) a few weeks ago.

[ahimsa]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 11:23am

That was my line up, too!

What an incredible line up on Broadway. I can't wait to read tomorrow's reviews on South Pacific, as I enjoyed it most. I had front row mezz seats for Patti. She really connected with the audience, even up above. And as for Sunday, I was mezmerized until the very last second. What a weekend!

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 12:20pm

"Song lyrics are incredible throughout"

Are you kidding? Really?

I mean, a few things were clever, but for every one of those there were 5 that were painfully awkward and flat.

[ahimsa]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 12:33pm

It's not Sondheim, which is my fundamental point, but there are many clever lyrics.

But even Steven wrote "Finishing the Hat"

I show dogs in conformation, one of the fundamental things we talk about in judging them is what we call "fault judging" the dog. Eliminating them from consideration because of a particular fault (ear set too high, extreme rear angulation, etc) rather than focusing on the minute problems and not the overall conformation of the dog in evaluating them. To pull at a few flat lyrics, you're fault judging the show.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 2:23pm

A few?

I can handle a few. There were far more than a few, it was a majority--so much so that it distracted from the show even when I tried to ignore them.

[ahimsa]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 4:22pm

OK, then, count me among those that found them overall clever and amusing and we'll count you as "not amused"

For what it's worth, I totally cringed on the rinse, lather, repeat joke and found it totally lame.

[Cutielyricist]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 4:30pm

I dont think the sound system or just the accoustics in the Marquee were that great for this show...because the lyrics are quite good if you really listen to them..unfortunatly..they are pretty hard to hear. Theres alot I didnt hear the first time around.

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 4:40pm

I caught almost all the words, although I agree that I didn't care for the sound system. The voices sounded scratchy at times and it almost seemed like they were lipsynching because something sounded off. Maybe it was just because it was way in the back of the orchestra.

I wouldn't say I was "not amused," and maybe I'm exaggerating my 5:1 bad to good joke ratio. Perhaps it's more because the bad jokes were VERY bad and the good jokes were only mildly amusing. So maybe it was 50/50 in joke count, with the severity of the bad jokes skewing my perception.