Cry-Baby the Musical: a rollicking show that goes beyond the box!!

 

 

Cry Baby  The musical  A Theatre Kraken Production adapted from  the film written and directed by John Waters , the book by  Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, songs/music    by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger,  incidental music by Lynne Shankel

 

Not since Tim Oberholzer* and his merry band of performers let loose at the Gladstone  with their cult rock musical productions (The Rocky Horror Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch),   has the Gladstone theatre housed  such an exuberant cult classic event . However, this one had a different twist  and that is what brought the show up a notch . Pianist and artistic director Chris Lucas signaled to his six piece band  and off went the overture  making fun of the way those numbers end, by endless endings that always restart, signaling the beginning of this huge send-up  that already had us  giggling.

Class conflict at the teenage level, pits a group of wealthy snobby young ones with perfect morals, against a less fortunate group of apparent social misfits as the music reflects the social confrontation of the 195os . There is Baldwin and his band of squeaky clean do-gooders who always get vaccinated- remember the polio outbreak? They  flee pinkos, weirdos, they wear pastel colours,  go to the good schools and abhor that indecent rock music. They are confronted by the rebel rocker and devil himself (watch the lights change)   Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker  accompanied by his eccentric friends who can all sing  and dance their way rings around the  “correctly”  brought up group.

They all meet at an anti-polio picnic,  setting off a Romeo and Juliette /West side Story style of plot where forbidden-boy Cry-Baby meets beautiful good girl Allison and that first spark underlies the rest of the evening. Will Cry-Baby and Allison really get it on?  Will they properly “infect”each other with their “inappropriate” cross-class feelings?   The number of the Jukebox  Jamboree at Turkey Point where Allison finally decides to escape the  stifling Baldwin  (an excellent interpretation Kenny Hayes) who hovers around her,  is the turning point.  She needs to prove she is not really such a “nice”girl after all.  This  seems to come out of Grease  but  nothing is that simple here because the book and the music turn all these events into parodies of themselves. There  is an  upward spiral of jokes  that even  the “good” bad guys are just as silly as the “bad” good-guys , where the prison romp is a send up of Elvis’ Jail house rock and where the Jamboree at Turkey Point becomes  a perfect send up of  that high school  gymnasium dance in West Side Story . Note especially the magnificent voice of  Steph Goodwin, known here  as “Hatchet-Face” whose vocal power and singing ability should propel her onto greater things!  Very  High tenor Dupree W.Dupree was another strong  voice that made its own special place in the crowd as he hurtles his upper notes around the theatre whenever the script gives him the chance.  Emma Woodside  as  the shy beautiful Allison was perfectly infected with the spirit of parody as she switched from romantic longing to bad girl howling  at the right point.

Apparently Act II  makes changes by twisting the plot and adding new  songs. For example, Act II also  gave an excellent  number to Mrs. Vernon-Williams,  Allison’s  conflicted  grandmother –  “I did something wrong once”  – performed by   Christine  Drew  whose guilt- ridden outbursts are well served by her tortured interpretation of that song  in her beautifully tasteless comic rendition.   And  Lawrence Evenchick as the angry  judge, spokesperson for the system that “cant be beat ” never  stops eyeing the young ones,  suggesting the time will come when it  will be beat! His contribution  is always impeccable.

The  male lead , (poor orphan Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker) confirmed the immense talent of Nicholas Dave Amott . His vocal and corporeal mimic of Elvis was perfect but it also had a  special   personal touch because of his outpouring of  charm and sex appeal  which is very  necessary  to that role.  This is an actor/singer  capable of adapting to any role at all.  We are lucky to have Amott in Ottawa but who knows how much longer he will  be here  before  some agent  grabs him!

 

What  also  worked strongly was the overall energy of this show, the excellent music under the direction of Chris Lucas, some of the group numbers choreographed by Brenda Solman who along with director Fex assured a breathtaking pace,  tight performances and a fine   group effort where they all worked beautifully and performed to their fullest. The fact is that this  musical gives one the sense that you have already seen “that” somewhere before because of all the references but it is also thoroughly entertaining  precisely because the borrowing is all turned on its head ;  the way the performance style  and all the brazen textual parody  take us right into the world of  so many popular musicals even including the angry  Mel Brooks  style humor of  The Producers  which is the epitome of bad taste  becoming brilliant parody turned into social and  political criticism.

Cry-Baby is not quite as brilliant as those other shows , but the intentions are there and most of the performances hit the spot  especially as director Fex keeps it all boiling hot.

No doubt this company, given the extent of their current ambitions which they rightly pursue,  and the more than 20 singing and dancing performers,  needed  a bigger  stage! Some of those dance numbers clearly had to be downplayed because they had no room to expand freely and it looked as though the musicians felt crushed on the right. How does an actor feel with the music blasting in his/her ear?  That is not the fault of the company but the problem with Ottawa,  there is no  affordable space  for such companies who  should be able to stage such an event in a proper venue! Even the electrical system in the Gladstone is old  and we heard crackles from a sound system did not quite work the way it should although the glitch will not happen again!

What is the solution to all this?  The Centrepointe Studio would have been an excellent venue but it’s too expensive.  How is theatre supposed to grow if it is not encouraged by  municipal grants that allow artists to produce their work in proper performance spaces  especially if the productions are worthwhile like this one is?  Should the NAC step in?   Perhaps, but in the meantime, do try to see this. You are in for big surprise!

Cry-Baby, the musical adapted from the John Waters film . It runs from May 11 to 19  at the Gladstone.

Call  613-233-4523

A Theatre Kraken Production

Director………………………………………….Don Fex

Musical director…………………………………Chris Lucas

Set…………………Don Fex, Christine Hecker, Brenda Solman

Choreographer…………………………………..Brenda Solman

Lighting………………………………………….Cameron Macdonald

Sound…………………………………………….Jason Sonier

 

Cast:

Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker………………………Nicholas Dave Amott

Allison Vernon-Williams………………………..Emma Woodside

Baldwin Blandish………………………………..Kenny Hayes

Lenora Frigid……………………………………Samantha De Benedet

Dupree W. Dupree………………………………Axandre Lemours

Mona “Hatchet-Face” Mainorowsky……………Steph Goodwin

Wanda Woodward (Dance captain)……………..Alianne Rozon

Pepper Walker…………………………………..Abbey Flockton

Mrs. Vernon-Williams…………………………..Christine Drew

Judge Stone………………………………………Lawrence Evenchick

Whiffles………..…..Ian McMullen, Carley Richards, Cameron Wales

Ensemble…….Kiersten Hanly, Emma Hickey, Jason Hopkins, Katherine Nye,

Sydney Powell-Goldsmith, Brenda Solman

 

Band

Director/piano……………………………………Chris Lucas

Saxophones/flute…………………………………Tariq Amery

Guitars…………………………………………….John Corkett/Corey Thomas

Drums……………………………………………..Trevor Curtis

Bass/Double bass………………………………….Normand Glaude