How can something so bad be so good?
That's what 1950s good-girl debutante Allison Vernon-Williams thinks when she meets handsome bad boy Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. But it could also describe the astonishing transition John Waters' not-so-great 1990 movie "Cry-Baby" had made to the stage in its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse this week.
The new musical "Cry-Baby" is a joyous, dance-happy confection that refuses to take itself seriously. Dazzling choreography, brilliantly satiric lyrics, eye-popping sets and some showstopping performances make the Broadway-bound "Cry-Baby" one of the biggest surprises of the season. Sure "Cry-Baby" could use some trims and fine-tuning, and the plot is as featherlight as a cream puff, but it's so doggone fun, it's a guilty pleasure.
Waters wrote and directed "Cry-Baby" as a spoof of the juvenile delinquency films ("Rebel Without a Cause") of the 1950s. In the story's move to the stage, bookwriters Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan (who also turned Waters' earlier film, "Hairspray," into a musical) have retained the film's playful sense of parody and teen innocence, but they've softened its most bizarre characters and pumped up the central romantic storyline. Hardcore Waters fans may find the musical version too commercial and watered down, but the movie's jubilant celebration of young love explodes off the stage with an energy never captured in the film.
Set in 1954 Baltimore against the backdrop of communist scares, UFO sightings and the dawn of rock 'n' roll, "Cry-Baby" is the Romeo and Juliet-style love story of "Cry-Baby" Walker, the Elvis-like leader of the Drapes greasers gang, and Allison, a wealthy, baton-twirling "square" who's dying to be just a little bit bad. The star-crossed lovers meet at an anti-polio picnic, cement their devotion at the Turkey Point Jukebox Jamboree and have their love tested when Cry-Baby is framed for a crime and sent to jail and Lenora (a mentally ill rival for Cry-Baby's affections) concocts a fake pregnancy.
Yep, it's silly stuff -- and intentionally so -- and the musical's writers are very much in on the joke. Songwriters David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger's lyrics are hilarious, from the oh-so-upbeat cheers during the overture ("unwrap those lozenges") and exit music ("Watch your cholesterol!"); to Allison's earnest love ballad "I'm Infected" ("Cupid slipped a mickey in my vaccine"); to Cry-Baby's emotional solo "Girl, Can I Kiss You with Tongue?"; to the Drapes' anthem ("We're so mean, we don't like Ike"); to the helpful advice offered at the polio vaccine clinic ("If you value your legs, you've come to the right place!"); to the thesaurus-happy ballad "Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe."
The score was heavily inspired by the music of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, the McGuire Sisters, Patsy Cline and Pat Boone, and many numbers end up sounding the same (especially when most of them end with the same big finish). It wouldn't hurt a bit to trim some of the duplicates, like the not-funny-enough harmony quartet "Thanks for the Nifty Country!" the cliched girls trio "Class Dismissed" and Cry-Baby's only-OK solo "Do That Again."
Mark Brokaw's ebullient and fluid direction keeps the show in perpetual motion, the pacing peppy and the mood always sunny. Scott Pask's colorfully askew sets beautifully accentuate the story's cockeyed optimism. But the show highlight is choreographer Rob Ashford's imaginatively conceived dance numbers that combine innovative ideas (like a tap dance using car license plates strapped to the shoes and a synchronized Busby-Berkley-style aerial leg ballet) with impressive artistry and showmanship.
James Snyder and Elizabeth Stanley co-star as young lovers Cry-Baby and Allison. Snyder has the right swivel-hipped, curled-lip look, big puppy dog eyes and a robust, nimble singing voice, and Stanley has a big belty, bluesy voice wrapped in a shy, girlish stage presence. They have nice chemistry together as well.
The show's scene-stealer is Alli Mauzey as the frightfully delusional Lenora, whose weirdly warped love ballad to Cry-Baby, "Screw Loose," stops the show. Chester Gregory II is also a standout as Cry-Baby's best friend, Dupree, a vocally gifted tenor with the moves of Little Richard and James Brown.
Quirky character actress Harriet Harris does her neurotic best as Mrs. Vernon-Williams, Allison's refined grandmother (who's hiding some dark secrets in her past), though songwriters should re-key her solo "I Did Something Wrong … Once" so it's more in her vocal range.
Richard Poe is impressive in his small role as Judge Stone. Christopher J. Hanke gives pluck and personality to Allison's ultra-bland ex, Baldwin; Carly Jibson is in-your-face as Cry-Baby's perpetually pregnant 16-year-old cousin, Pepper; and Lacey Kohl and Cristen Paige are suitably tasteless as the sexually provocative, switchblade-flashing Drapes, Wanda and Mona, respectively.
"Cry-Baby" runs two hours, 10 minutes, with intermission and with just a couple of trims might be better as an intermissionless 90- to 100-minute piece. The midshow break interrupts the show's cheery buoyancy and it takes a bit of effort to get back into that bubbly mood again.
"Cry-Baby"
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; through Dec. 16
Where: Mandell Weiss Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, UC San Diego, La Jolla
Tickets: $40-$100
Info: (858) 550-1010
