Legitimate Theater: Cry-Baby (2008)

Cry-Baby

Welcome to Legitimate Theater: a column dedicated to movie-based stage musicals. The goal of this series is to explore those stories that originated in films and eventually worked their way onto Broadway and beyond. By the end of each entry, there will hopefully be a better understanding of this odd but rampant trend in modern entertainment. Are these stories really worth telling through song and dance? How can it even compare to the technical prowess of a camera and seamless editing? Join me on this quest as I explore the highs and lows of this trend on the third Wednesday of every month and hopefully answer what makes this Legitimate Theater.

Opening

At the start of April, musician Adam Schlesinger passed away from COVID-19. When looking back at his body of work, one can't help but be impressed with the amount of material he left behind. Among them was this adaptation of the John Waters ditty Cry-Baby. Here he takes 1950s b-side culture and makes it into one of the most jubilant, irreverent shows of its kind. Following the tracks of Hairspray, it's a show meant to have fun with The Pope of Trash' s unique approach to outsider culture. Considering that all it needs to do is wink happily at the crowd, it has a low bar to cover. Will it succeed in making us want to boogie and sing our way out of a jail cell?

A Quick Background

Tony Nominations: 4 nominations including Best Musical

Based on: Cry-Baby (1990)

Music: Adam Schlesinger

Lyrics: David Javerbaum

Book: Mark O'Donnell, Thomas Meehan

Prominent Actors: James Snyder, Elizabeth Stanley, Alli Mauzey, Harriet Harris

Soundtrack

1. "Overture"
2. "The Anti Polio Picnic"
3. "Watch Your Ass"
4. "I'm Infected"
5. "Squeaky Clean"
6. "Nobody Gets Me"
7. "Nobody Gets Me Reprise"
8. "Jukebox Jamboree"
9. "A Whole Lot Worse"
10. "Screw Loose"
11. "Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby"
12. "Girl, Can I Kiss You With Tongue"
13. "I'm Infected Reprise"
14. "You Can't Beat The System"
15. "Act 1 Finale"
16. "Entr'acte"
17. "Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hope"
18. "Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hope Reprise"
19. "All in My Head"
21. "A Little Upset"
22. "I Did Something Wrong, Once"
23. "Thanks for the Nifty Country"
24. "This Amazing Offer"
25. "Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again"

Note: Listen to the music here

Song Exploration

Opening Song:
"The Anti Polio Picnic"

As was the case with the film, opening with a look into the polio vaccination scene feels like the perfect place to find the divide between characters. It allows for the cheeky lyrics to clash with the upbeat rockabilly tone and introduce the audience to the weird asides that will continue to pop up throughout the album. Unlike other productions, there's a lack of subtlety in this show. If the characters are bad, they're blatantly Leave It to Beaver-levels of enthusiastic in pronouncing their racism and fear of the world outside of Squaresville. It's a goofy song with vivid 50s imagery and one that captures the tone of the show in just the right way.

Carryovers

In one of the more unconventional decisions, Cry-Baby the musical doesn't actually have a single song from the musical it was based on. Yes, the tone of the show is absolutely similar but we're not going to get any of the clever ditties that Johnny Depp sang here. Instead they're all original, covering similar territory at moments such as a rockabilly concert, but that's about as much similarity as both will share on a soundtrack level.

High Point:

"Screw Loose"

It's a great call to have somebody take the metaphor of having a screw loose and apply it too literally. Here we get it in a kitschy, cute ballad where a girl falls in love with a boy. Things slowly unravel, and it's here that the show is at its best. Underneath its expert attention to disposable rock tunes is enough thought and effort into lyrics that capture the naive innocence of youth with the dumb-as-rocks imagery that often populates these songs. For moments like this, this ranks as one of the best 50s pastiches ever put to musical theater. 

Low Point:

"Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again"

How do you end a story that satirizes the clean-cut lifestyle of 50s suburbia? Well, you make the most self-aware song on the entire record. At this moment the show breaks the fourth wall and stays out there, talking about how they ended racism and venereal diseases. It's fine as a joke, but out of the context of the bigger show, I have trouble understanding how this ends the story on a happy note. It started as a teenage romance, so why is there so much attention to the bigger world? It's fine and catchy enough but is indicative of why this show is always secondary to Hairspray in the John Waters adaptation department. It's goofy without a point at times, and that works against it here.

What Does It Bring to the Story?

I guess on a literal sense it brings more music. I definitely think there's something to be said for the catchiness of the melodies and the bold choice not to just recycle what we already know. The work here is fine and serves as a fun little pastiche, but otherwise, it's just serving as counter-programming to cleaner shows like Grease and Little Shop of Horrors. 

Was This Necessary?

No

On one hand, I think this show achieves what it set out to do. Cry-Baby as a film was always silly and making fun of its dispensable nature. However, that's the issue. The joke is how ridiculous the 1950s teenage culture was, and that joke only gets you so far. I personally enjoy it and find that the music gets stuck in your head well enough, but it lacks a sheen that could make it something special. Instead, it is just a fun show that I can't wait to see my local theater put on because the rights to Hairspray were too expensive. It's doomed to be the "other" show for better and worse, but a fun inessential show just the same.