#1
Posted: 4/12/08 at 6:26pm
Just saw it this afternoon and while it is NOT the worst musical ever, it is severely flawed and such uninteresting fluff that it's truly dismissable. Cry-Baby has a lot going for it, a strong built-in cult fanbase via the film, a great team of technical artists from book-writers to lighting designers, fresh new talent penning the score, and a talented cast. Too bad none of the factors above are taken full advantage of. Almost everything in this show is half-assed. They obviously want it to be as avant-garde and original and John-Waters-y as the film but still are trying to appeal to the traditional theater-goer. So when they try to put eccentric trademarks into the show, it's done so awkwardly because the creators simply can't seem to find level ground somewhere between John Waters camp and Broadway musical comedy. They obviously are trying to make it a different show than Hairspray and it is, it simply can't be compared.
The score is incredibly banal. Every single song sounds exactly the same. The lyrics, however, were very smart at times and best captured the essence of the original film. They also had the tendency to become cheesy and cliche as well. It's an extremely uneven score that I honestly don't remember much of. I got an immense headache during Baby Baby Baby Baby (Baby Baby Baby)...yes that's what it's called. It just didn't really work.
The book is extremely pedestrian which is very upsetting considering that it is penned by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell who created such a bright, funny, engaging, and powerful book for Hairspray. The characters are ALL underdeveloped, mostly all uninteresting (besides what the actors put into their roles), and the jokes range from flying over the audience's head to not flying anywhere and just dying on the spot. Some land, some flop, and some don't even get off the ground.
The sets are really nice if uninventive, the costumes are bright and colorful, the lighting is migraine-inducing, and the orchestrations are fine.
The direction, by Mark Brokaw, is high-school level at best. Thankfully, the show's one major saving grace is Rob Ashford's fantastic choreography. He won't win the Tony this year (In The Heights will win for it's beautiful choreography) but he should at least be nominated. Jailhouse Jubilee was the one moment in the show that soared for me, mainly because of the choreography with the license plates. The dancing is really wonderful.
James Snyder is obviously giving the role his all, but I think he's a little out of his league here...he's obviously very talented, but I don't think this show is the one to start him off with (it's his Broadway debut). He didn't really leave much of an impact on me which, when you're playing the title role, isn't a good sign. Elizabeth Stanley is okay...again, obviously very talented but one can't help but wonder what Sutton Foster or someone of that nature could have done with this role. Harriet Harris is fine in the most underwritten role in the show. Allie Mauzey is hilarious and will surely only grow more and more into her role as she gets more comfortable. Christopher Hanke is underwhelming, Chester Gregory III is good, and the rest of the cast does a nice job.
Basically, there's really nothing I despised about the show, I thought it was fun but I can't help but think that in a week I won't even remember I saw it. The audience loved it and I hope they continue to work on it...the potential is there. The show seemed to be in conflict with itself for most of the 2 and a half hours. The score went one way, the lyrics went another, the book went one way, the direction went another, one half of the cast went one way, the other half of the cast went another...it was very muddled and underwhelming.
** out of ****
The score is incredibly banal. Every single song sounds exactly the same. The lyrics, however, were very smart at times and best captured the essence of the original film. They also had the tendency to become cheesy and cliche as well. It's an extremely uneven score that I honestly don't remember much of. I got an immense headache during Baby Baby Baby Baby (Baby Baby Baby)...yes that's what it's called. It just didn't really work.
The book is extremely pedestrian which is very upsetting considering that it is penned by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell who created such a bright, funny, engaging, and powerful book for Hairspray. The characters are ALL underdeveloped, mostly all uninteresting (besides what the actors put into their roles), and the jokes range from flying over the audience's head to not flying anywhere and just dying on the spot. Some land, some flop, and some don't even get off the ground.
The sets are really nice if uninventive, the costumes are bright and colorful, the lighting is migraine-inducing, and the orchestrations are fine.
The direction, by Mark Brokaw, is high-school level at best. Thankfully, the show's one major saving grace is Rob Ashford's fantastic choreography. He won't win the Tony this year (In The Heights will win for it's beautiful choreography) but he should at least be nominated. Jailhouse Jubilee was the one moment in the show that soared for me, mainly because of the choreography with the license plates. The dancing is really wonderful.
James Snyder is obviously giving the role his all, but I think he's a little out of his league here...he's obviously very talented, but I don't think this show is the one to start him off with (it's his Broadway debut). He didn't really leave much of an impact on me which, when you're playing the title role, isn't a good sign. Elizabeth Stanley is okay...again, obviously very talented but one can't help but wonder what Sutton Foster or someone of that nature could have done with this role. Harriet Harris is fine in the most underwritten role in the show. Allie Mauzey is hilarious and will surely only grow more and more into her role as she gets more comfortable. Christopher Hanke is underwhelming, Chester Gregory III is good, and the rest of the cast does a nice job.
Basically, there's really nothing I despised about the show, I thought it was fun but I can't help but think that in a week I won't even remember I saw it. The audience loved it and I hope they continue to work on it...the potential is there. The show seemed to be in conflict with itself for most of the 2 and a half hours. The score went one way, the lyrics went another, the book went one way, the direction went another, one half of the cast went one way, the other half of the cast went another...it was very muddled and underwhelming.
** out of ****
