I usually only write reviews of shows which LAStageScene has been invited to
attend, but I couldn’t not tell you about the fabulous La Jolla Playhouse
production of the Broadway bound Cry-Baby, which I've just come back from
seeing in a two-day trip to San Diego, which also included fine productions of The
Grinch Who Stole Christmas at the Old Globe and White Christmas at the
Lawrence Welk.

Clearly inspired by the smashing success of Hairspray, Cry-Baby’s creators have
musicalized another John Waters cult favorite, and done so with cheer-worthy
results.

Cry-Baby takes place in 1954, eight years prior to Hairspray, and no, this time there
is no cross-dressing leading man/lady, but both shows are set in Waters’ beloved
Baltimore, and both shows revolve around outsiders in a world filled with
conformists.

Cry-Baby’s non-conformists are Wade (aka Cry-Baby) Walker, a handsome,
tattooed rocker and his gang of outsiders, including the girl trio of slutty Wanda,
pregnant Pepper, and Mona aka Hatchet-Face (“I’m ugly on the inside too!”).  On
the other side of the cultural fence are white-bread cheerleader Allison, her
perfectly blond boyfriend Baldwin, and Allison’s high society grandmother Mrs.
Vernon-Williams.

Cry-Baby (so named because in fact he has never shed more than a single tear)
meets Allison at “The Anti-Polio” picnic, the first of Cry-Baby The Musical’s show-
stopping dance numbers, choreographed by Tony winner Rob Ashford.  (In fact
most of the show’s creators have Tony winner or Tony nominee before their names.)

The square majority in Baltimore is scandalized by Cry-Baby and his gang.  You see,
Cry-Baby’s pacifist parents were sent to the electric chair for supposedly burning
down a shoe factory, causing Cry-Baby to become the town pariah, and (not
uncoincidentally) Mrs. Vernon-Williams was one of the key witnesses for the
prosecution. Will Cry-Baby and Allison find happiness together in a world which
says they must not be lovers?  Will Cry-Baby’s electrocuted parents ever be
exonerated?  Will Mona ever get cosmetic surgery?  The answer to these and
other questions can be found in Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan’s
outrageously funny book, which is far more John Waters-esque than the
comparatively mainstream Broadway adaptation of Hairspray.

As someone who is sometimes put in the position of defending Los Angeles theater,
I must admit that a Broadway-budgeted show like Cry-Baby is indeed in a class by
itself.  Besides Tony winners O’Donnell, Meehan, and Ashford, most of Cry-Baby’s
creators have lengthy Broadway resumes: Tony-worthy director Mark Brokaw,
musical director Lynne Shankel,  orchestrator Christopher Jahnke, set designer
Scott Pask, costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer Howell Binkley,
and sound designer Peter Hylenski. There’s also the matter of budget (doubtless in
the millions) which has allowed Pask to create dazzlingly colorful and mobile sets
gorgeously lit by Binkley. Zuber’s costumes are 1954 perfect—with the “good”
Baltimoreans in pastels and the “bad” one mostly in shades of black.

The cast is primarily made up of sensationally talented “unknowns”, though with a
handful of exceptions, all have Broadway credits.  The lone big name is Tony-
winner Harriet Harris (TV’s Frasier), who’s also (I’m proud to say) an L.A. theater
favorite, with recent MTW and Reprise credits including her Ovation-winning turn
in On The Town.  As may be expected, the inimitable Ms. Harris plays Mrs. Vernon-
Williams as only she can.  Don’t be surprised if Cry-Baby brings her another Tony
award (the nomination being a sure thing). Harris’s Act 2 solo (“I Did Something
Wrong…Once”) is a tour de force, not quite “Rose’s Turn” but perhaps its comic
equivalent.  Harris is probably the best bad singer in the business (no offense
intended) and she holds a note in “I Did Something Wrong…Once” that goes on ...
forever.

Other stellar performances include Broadway’s* (*the adjective applies to
everyone on this list) Chester Gregory II as the James Brown-like Dupree,
Christopher J. Hanke as squeaky clean Baldwin, Carly Jibson (who was even better
than Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur as Tracy in Hairspray) as tough girl Pepper,
Lacey Kohl and Cristen Page as her cohorts Wanda and Mona, and Elizabeth
Stanley, blonde girl next door perfection as Allison.  (And yay!!! Someone named
Stanley is going to be a Broadway star, and sadly, as they say, Elizabeth is “no
relation” to me.)

Stealing every scene she’s in is Alli Mauzey as the adorably deranged Lenora, who
gets to sing the outrageously off-kilter “Screw Loose.”  Though she too can be
described as “Broadway’s Alli Mauzey,” having appeared in on the Great White
Way in Wicked and Hairspray, Mauzey is also a Los Angeles favorite, having been
seen locally in The Musical of Musical: The Musical, 110 in the Shade, and City of
Angels (at the Colony, the Pasadena Playhouse, and Reprise). It's exciting to see
an L.A. favorite making it big on Broadway!

The same is true, and even more so, for the stellar leading man, (Angeleno) James
Snyder, who has multiple L.A. stage credits, most notably Rock of Ages, and is a    
U.S.C. grad to boot! Triple threat Snyder electrifies the stage (a la Elvis) in his many
rocking hip-swiveling numbers, including “One Tear,” “Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby
(Baby Baby),” and “Do That Again,” and is sure to become a big Broadway name--
and heartthrob--once Cry-Baby opens there.

Songwriters David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger will be making their
Broadway debuts with Cry-Baby. Though their songs are less melodic and
memorable than Mark Shaimen’s were for Hairspray, part of this is due to the 50s
rock genre itself. Still, they have composed many catchy and clever numbers,
including (love these titles!) “Watch Your Ass,” “I’m Infected,” “Thanks for the Nifty
Country!” and “Nothing Bad’s Ever Gonna Happen Again.” Best of the bunch may
well be the torchy synonym-filled ballad, “Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness,
Heartache, and Woe” which unites seven of the leads and opens Act 2 with a
bang.

Choreographer Ashford is a shoo-in Tony nominee for his many high energy dances,
most notably the Act 2 showstopper “Jailyard Jubilee,” which has the sensational
Chester Gregory II singing lead, and his fellow jailhouse inmates out-Tapdogging
the stars of Tap Dog, with license plates taking the place of taps.  (It’s loud and
brilliant!)

The rest of the phenomenal cast is made up of Cameron Adams, Ashley Amber,
Nick Blaemire, Michael Buchanan, Eric L. Christian, Colin Cunliffe, Joanna Glushak,
Stacey Todd Holt, Michael D. Jablonski, Marty Lawson, Spencer Liff (also assistant
choreographer), Courtney Laine Mazza, Mayumi Miguel, Richard Poe, Tory Ross, Eric
Sciotto, Peter Matthew Smith, Allison Spratt, and Charlie Sutton, all of whom are
more than welcome to return to SoCal stages anytime.

(A few personal asides: Blaemire is the talented actor/singer/composer who
played Abraham in the excellent Altar Boyz tour, and who told me after last
night's performance how excited he is to be among the youngest in the cast,
about to have his first Broadway credit. Congratulations Nick!  Buchanan, a
recent Jefferson Award winner for Chicago’s Urinetown, was very gracious when I
mistook him for another cast member. Sorry Michael!   And swing Jablonski sold me
an Equity Fights Aids Christmas album and chatted a bit about his being in this
great show. Thanks Michael!)

It was truly a thrill to see Cry-Baby pre-Broadway.  I can't imagine that any major
changes will take place between now and its expected 2008 opening. The
creators know exactly what they’re doing, and the result is worthy of an
unabashed rave from LAStageScene!  (I only wish I’d reserved to see it twice!)

Mandell Weiss Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla
Closes December 16.  www.LaJollaPlayhouse.org

--Steven Stanley
   December 12, 2007