James Snyder, Chester Gregory II, Elizabeth Stanley and Spencer Liff in
“Cry-Baby,” based on the John Water film set in 1950s Baltimore. Photo: Joan Marcus.
This second-annual festival nurtures playwrights and raises funds for the local Harvey Milk High School.
Plus: Wilde’s ‘Earnest’ revival and Christine Ebersole’s jazzy CD
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By Jonathan Warman
Friday, May 09, 2008
Let’s get this straight—“Cry-Baby” is loads of fun, a barrel and a half of laughs, and a generally rollicking and sexy good time. Based on the John Waters movie of the same name, “Cry-Baby” takes place in Baltimore, just like Waters’ mega hit franchise “Hairspray.” However this is the Baltimore of 1954, eight years before the action in “Hairspray.” These are the paranoid anti-Communist Eisenhower years, where a rockabilly “drape” like Wade “Cry-Baby’ Walker (enthusiastically played by James Snyder) is simultaneously a pariah and the coolest boy in town.
Wade falls hard for good girl Allison (Elizabeth Stanley, a pretty blonde with dangerous energy in the Sherie Rene Scott mold) and the plot is pure boy meets girl with detours through class warfare, insanity and tongue kissing. The score is a mixed bag: David Javerbaum’s lyrics are clever and razor-sharp, while Adam Schlesinger’s music gets the light-hearted tone and 1954 stylings just right (it just isn’t particularly memorable).
Rob Ashford’s slam-bang choreography is the show’s real star, with abundant Elvis-like pelvic thrusting for his hunky chorus. Dance captain Spencer Liff also deserves special mention for his smokin’ abs and ultra-precise move; if he doesn’t raise your temperature at least a little, you’re just not gay.
“Cry-Baby,” 7 p.m. Tue., 8 p.m. Wed. Sat., 2 p.m. Wed. & Sat. and 3 p.m. Sun. at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway, $35–$120, 212-307-4100, crybabyonbroadway.com.
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