crybaby reviews?- Page 2

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:26pm

Neddy,

I'm Orange County based but see a lot of stuff out in LA- although I do come down to see all the pre-Broadway shows in San Diego....(upcoming next in SD broadway bound shows is Dancing In The Dark, aka The Band Wagon directed by Gary Griffin).

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/19/07 at 9:37pm

Updated On: 1/25/08 at 09:37 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/20/07 at 8:07am

Here's the San Diego Union Tribune. Mostly positive, especially for the lyrics and the choreography. She faults the book a bit near the end.


THEATER REVIEW
Compared to original Waters film, you've come a long way, 'Cry-Baby'

By Anne Marie Welsh
UNION-TRIBUNE THEATER CRITIC

November 20, 2007

It's Arbor Day 1954 at the Maidenhead Country Club. The Whiffles are singing a close harmony number, “Squeaky Clean.” They're the kind of boys “I'm told I long for,” warbles blond, bland Allison.

But the boy she really wants is the one who's infected her with love at the Polio Vaccination Carnival, hip-swiveling, guitar-slinging bad boy Cry-Baby. He shows up at the Maidenhead in a burst of roof-rattling thunder and lightning, bringing on his girl gang and offering Allison the cruder pleasures of the lowdown Jukebox Jamboree.

So goes “Cry-Baby,” the talent-stuffed, deliriously danced new musical at La Jolla Playhouse, based on the John Waters movie and still struggling to find the right comedic core that might give it a shot – and some singularity – on Broadway.

Smoothly directed by Mark Brokaw and enthusiastically received Sunday at the Playhouse, the show has three big pluses: the irony-drenched lyrics of David Javerbaum; wildly inventive and energetically danced faux-'50s choreography by Rob Ashford; and a showstopping “Screw Loose” number for Cry-Baby stalker, Lenora.

That crazed love ballad, delivered with star-making lunacy by Alli Mauzey, harkens back to the low-budget John Waters of “Pink Flamingos,” work too trashy and subversive for conversion to the Great White Way.

But that was then and this is now.

After his much warmer, more substantial 1988 “Hairspray” movie became a Jack O'Brien-directed hit musical (and remade film), Waters turned over the 1990 Johnny Depp vehicle “Cry-Baby” to a quirkier, younger songwriting team for its Broadway makeover.

Javerbaum has been head writer for Comedy Central's “The Daily Show” and had off-Broadway successes in musical theater. Composer Adam Schlesinger writes for lauded, contrasting bands, Ivy and Fountains of Wayne, though his “Cry-Baby” score delivers standard issue 1950s white-bread harmonies for the Squares and wailing rhythm-and-blues or rockabilly for the rebels.

Waters' “Cry-Baby” movie was a one-joke affair, a satire of class divisions and a salute to teen rebels showcasing an offbeat cast.

Watching Scott Pask's candy-colored all-American sets and Catherine Zuber's bright Eisenhower-era costumes Sunday, four decades of Elvis spoofs and '50s parodies came to mind – especially when “Cry-Baby” strained stridently to be different from predecessors like, most obviously, “Grease.”

Waters' Baltimore greasers Cry-Baby and his gang call themselves Drapes and gather at Turkey Point (aka The Redneck Riviera). The show is most inspired and effective in those rabble-rousing first-act scenes, beginning with a hot number for a James Brown-like Dupree (honey-voiced Chester Gregory II).

The dance breaks (arranged by David Chase) in this “Jukebox Jamboree” and other numbers are smart and long, allowing Ashford's jitterbugging choreography, crisply executed by a dozen dancers to develop the parodic, sex-obsessed spirit of the Drapes here and in prison.

The book by “Hairspray” veterans Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell tends to flatten into one-liners, a problem that often leaves the wonderful Harriet Harris (playing the reconceived Polly Bergen role of Allison's upper-crust grandmother) adrift.

But Javerbaum's lyrics and Ashford's choreographic imagination have the same tone and vibe; both peak in the elegantly crude and hilarious “Can I Kiss You . . . ?,” the movie's gross-out French kiss number, which here gets earthy yet hip lyrics sung with deadpan fervor by James Snyder as Cry-Baby. The good-looking, blue-eyed actor has a big, smooth, rangy voice and shows comedic smarts in lyrics like I'm in complete command / of my lachrymal gland. But dramatically, he seldom gets much beyond the generic as the misunderstood outcast. His dialogue, like Allison's, is often cartoonish.



Book: Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell. Direction: Mark Brokaw. Songs: David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger. Choreography: Rob Ashford. Music direction: Lynne Shenkel. Set: Scott Pask. Costumes: Catherine Zuber. Dance arranger: David Chase. Lighting: Howell Binkley. Featured cast: James Snyder, Elizabeth Stanley, Harriet Harris, Alli Mauzey, Chester Gregory II, Carly Jibson, Richard Poe, Christopher J. Hanke.
San Diego Union Tribune - Cry-Baby

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/20/07 at 8:11am

Orange Country Register is a rave.

Crying all the way to the bank
Review: The 'Hairspray' writing team and a Jon Stewart alum have struck gold adapting another John Waters film for the stage, 'Cry-Baby.'
By PAUL HODGINS
The Orange County Register
Comments 0 | Recommend 0

John Waters – Broadway titan. Who knew?

Fans of "Pink Flamingos" and "Polyester" probably never dreamed that Baltimore's bad-boy filmmaker would somehow evolve into a reliable source for mainstream musical theater. But with the debut of "Cry-Baby" Nov. 18 at the La Jolla Playhouse, the mustachioed provocateur, whose early career was tied to the antics of a morbidly obese drag queen performing unmentionable acts, seems poised to muscle Disney aside as America's biggest source of family fun.

Make no mistake, though. "Cry-Baby" is no "Lion King." At its heart, it's still a Waters creation. The songs of David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger aim simultaneously for the crotch and the funny bone as they skewer Middle American conventions, just as Waters' early films did. Book writers Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell go for the same effect here as they did in their wildly successful Broadway adaptation of Waters' movie "Hairspray." Using a mid-century Baltimore setting similar to "Hairspray's" as their canvas (it's 1954 this time around, not 1962), they paint with a bold, broad brush, combining clever caricature, hip irony, and over-the-top characters that combine high-energy innocence with hyped-up sexuality.

James Snyder plays Wade "Cry-Baby "Walker, a rebel from the wrong side of the tracks who falls for Allison (Elizabeth Stanley), a member of Baltimore's blue blood set whose watchful grandmother, Mrs. Vernon-Williams (Stacey Todd Holt), isn't about to let her get involved with a boy below her lofty station.

Cry-Baby meets Allison when he and his gang, the Drapes, bust in on a polio vaccination event hosted by Allison's grandmother. The show's first number, "The Anti-Polio Picnic," is a clever parody of big social-event songs such as "Carousel's" "Real Nice Clambake." "If you value the use of your legs, you've come to the right spot," Vernon-Williams warbles.

The Drapes reluctantly go through with the vaccination, but there's no love lost between them and the "good" kids. "We're so mean we don't like Ike," says Mona (Cristen Paige), a tiny, disfigured girl whose favorite utensil is a switchblade.

Allison and Cry-Baby are drawn together like two electromagnets. "I'm a good girl, but I don't want to be," she tells him. Her boyfriend-wanna-be Baldwin naturally takes a dim view of their growing attraction.

Things turn from bad to worse when Cry-Baby tries to audition at the Maidenhead Country Club. Baldwin and his nerdy all-male vocal quartet, the Whiffles, set the snooty clubs' style standards with a performance of "Squeaky Clean." There's no way a bad boy without social connections is getting near that stage.

The class conflict comes to a head at Turkey Point, the Drapes' honky-tonk hangout. Allison follows Cry-Baby to explore her bad-girl urges. Things, um, develop on a dock nearby. But a mysterious blaze back at the club brings the romance to a halt. Baldwin fingers Cry-Baby as the fire-setter, based on flimsy circumstantial evidence and family history – Cry-Baby's parents were executed for arson years before.

Will Cry-Baby beat the rap and get sprung from his 10-year sentence? Will Allison resist Baldwin's advances, learn the truth about the fire and get back together with Cry-Baby? What do you think? This is musical theater, and many of us have seen the movie, to boot. Though some of the film's crazy narrative tangents have been trimmed, the basic story remains unchanged.

The fun part is seeing how Meehan and O'Donnell get us to the all-is-well final scene – and how well Javerbaum and Schlesinger send up one musical-theater cliché after another. The show's final, feel-good number, "Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again," is a masterpiece of satire, taking Rodgers and Hammerstein's blue-sky optimism to stratospheric extremes. Javerbaum's comic pedigree (he's executive producer of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart") serves him well.

Director Mark Brokaw commands an impressive cast full of young, relatively unknown talent. Stanley's Allison has the requisite looks for a good girl with a bad streak. She's blonde and dewy, but she knows how to raise an eyebrow at just the right moment. And Stanley owns the best voice in the cast, an electrifyingly beautiful instrument that cuts through everything in big ensemble numbers. Snyder gives a sufficiently effective comic-romantic performance as Cry-Baby to banish the ghost of Johnny Depp, though he's not quite as galvanic as he needs to be.

In supporting roles, there are plenty of standouts. Harris delivers the perfect high society archetype as Allison's grandmother – her highfalutin tone lies somewhere between Nancy Kulp and Margaret Dumont. Chester Gregory II does a creditable Little Richard turn as Dupree, the lead singer at the Drapes' club. The Drapes chicks are full of bluff, bluster and that love me/hate me bad-girl dichotomy. Mona has the best lines, and Paige gives them a lopsided beatnik poetry.

Rob Ashford's choreography slyly invokes the spirit of Jerome Robbins, among other '50s icons. Scott Pask's surprisingly detailed sets briskly take us from lakeside to country club to courtroom. Catherine Zuber's costumes are smartly observed amplifications of Eisenhower-era class identity.

Will "Cry-Baby" be the next "Hairspray"? It's certainly got the potential. The only fly in the ointment is the Broadway strike, which looks like it might last for a while. Other than that, nothing seems to be standing in Waters' way as he rises to the coveted place of honor in commercial theater's pantheon – not even Disney, which has stumbled badly in its last few Broadway outings and is still struggling to make "The Little Mermaid" ready for the musical-theater masses.
OC Register - Cry-Baby

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/20/07 at 8:44pm

Updated On: 1/25/08 at 08:44 PM

[Jimmy_B]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 10:59am

Here is a link from the Baltimore Sun with links to lots of new pictures

Enjoy

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-to.crybaby20nov20,0,1798573.story

Baltimore Sun

[dented146]

Posted: 11/21/07 at 1:15pm

neddy, You can say that again!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 3:23pm

The LA TIMES is mixed.

[antz]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 4:00pm

Saw it last night (24th). Great show...way more potential than YF despite YF having all that money behind it. The writing was actually very good and lyrically the parodies and spoofs were clever, witty, and funny. Stand-outs included Harriet Harris (She and Andrea Martin should both be in the running for a Tony). The dancing(espectially license plate number / prison break scene) was brilliant. Finally, another stand-out number was a parody of Patsy Cline's 'Crazy' called "Screw Loose". Alli Mauzey was simply amazing. I would definitely agree with all the mostly positive reviews and there's still time for Allison's character to find her voice (it's my only real criticism...and a weak one at that...it'll be there by Broadway opening).

[Huey's Pop]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 1:53pm

I saw Cry-Baby on Friday, Nov. 23. Loved it!

Can't wait for the cast album and for the National Tour to hit Los Angeles so I can see it again!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 5:12pm

hey antz... i saw it on the 24th too! where'd you sit?

this show is pretty much ready to hit broadway... i loved it... allison mauzy as lenora was just the standout... and her song SCREW LOOSE is hilarious and she owns it... the part where she just kinda makes sounds and doesn't sing lyrics had me dying... the dancing to the show is pretty fantastic and full of energy... my only complaints are that the first act kinda drags... i feel like they are stretching a paper thin plot... it could use some tightening up a bit... especially in the courtroom scene... other complaint... i dont know but i was underwhelmed by Harriet Harris... her big solo was rather blah for me... maybe because i've heard so many great things about her and i finally get to see her live... but i was left underwhelmed... and lastly... although I loved James Snyder as Cry Baby and Elizabeth Stanley as Allison, i felt that they needed something to give them that OOMPH as the two leads. I think they are on the right track and I'm excited to see how much they change for Broadway, because right now the show is in awesome shape.

And I might add I love the overture (espcially when the chorus sings "turn off your cell" and such... hilarious)... and ditto for the exit music!!! good stuff!

[BrianS]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 5:43pm

Not sure if you'd agree, but:

San Diego Arts A+
Variety B-
Baltimore Sun B+
Union Tribune C+
Orange County Register A-
Los Angeles Times B-

I know people said Little Mermaid was like an Ocean Liner that was nudged here and there with no major changes in the transfer (I was going to see it last week, but then, well...). I'm curious to see if the creative talent behind Cry-Baby prove more nimble. It really is a good show because it's a fun show. If they can get the tone more established and the book sharpened (along with figuring out what to do with the two lead characters), it could be a great show. I hope they aren't stubborn. Broadway could use an infusion of energy right about now.

Updated On: 11/26/07 at 05:43 PM

[mlsheehan]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:08pm

BrianS,
I was at a "talk back" with a lot of the creatives on the show. They seemed very intent on working on the show. I understand that a lot of tinkering has gone on. At the time, they mentioned they inserted new choreography for a whole number that morning and many lines were changing. I think they want this show to succeed.

I'm going to try and catch it later in the run to see what has changed.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:11pm

Updated On: 1/25/08 at 07:11 PM

[crzyray]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:13pm

did they keep the song "please mr. jailer" or is a completely new score with none of the amazing songs from the movie

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:45pm

Completely new score with no songs from the movie.

[matty159]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 8:09pm

Are there any grumblings about this extending at all through the holidays? I am going to be out there around New Years and really want to see this, though Wicked or Color Purple will sate my theater thirst too. BUT, I really want to see this!!! I know rumors are just rumors, but are there any about an extention?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 8:32pm

Are you going to be in San Diego or Los Angeles over the holidays?

Wicked and Colour Purple are in LA and Cry Baby is in San Diego. It doesn't really make a difference though because they aren't going to be extending past the 22nd.

[matty159]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 9:59pm

I am actually starting in San Diego to visit a friend from college before heading to LA, but alas, it is after it closes. Guess I will just have to wait for Broadway. So sad. Now to decide between Wicked and Color Purple (have seen Wicked, but the bf has not, so then there is that...).

[crzyray]

Posted: 11/27/07 at 12:44am

that's so upsetting please mr jailer is my favorite song from cry-baby, i really hope they have something just as good to replace it then!!!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 11/27/07 at 12:45am

I would also say that Variety was more of a B/B+