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I ENJOYED CRY-BABY!

There. I wrote it. I admit it. I confess it.

I mean, I realize it's not that big a deal to like the new Broadway musical Cry-Baby. I get the feeling that the general critical consensus is that it's all right, just not anything close to astounding. And I would agree that it doesn't come close to a number of fun-filled productions that I would consider its cousins, such as Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee—though I might be thought of as heretical for enjoying Cry Baby more than its sibling, Hairspray. But Ben Brantley put a harsh spin on it in The New York Times, and Michael Feingold offered a largely negative dissection of it in The Village Voice, so I'm also getting the feeling that its more appealing qualities might not be getting through in the media.

When I think about the brighter side of Cry-Baby, I think first of Alli Mauzey, who plays the obsessive Lenora. She's got fifth billing in the program, but she's tops in the show when it comes to enlivening it with comic talent and vocal ability.

Mauzey's performance seems to "click" more and more as the musical progresses, and I think that seems to be the case for the show as a whole. She has a good number in Act One with the Patsy Cline parody "Screw Loose," but everything seems to come together much better with the advent of Act Two, which opens with the strong "Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe" and then reaches a staging highlight with "All in My Head," in which masks help the production hit a bizarre note that comes close to what I tend to like most about the films of John Waters, whose movie Cry-Baby inspired this musical. Then comes an athletic novelty dance involving men and license plates, a disturbing and amusing confession from Harriet Harris as Mrs. Vernon Williams (who comes across as a Katherine Hepburn parody beside the Spencer Tracy of Richard Poe's Judge Stone), some funny riffing on "white bread" music, and the sardonic "happy ending" of "Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again."

So don't treat Cry-Baby as if it had some sort of deadly and highly contagious disease. It's not perfect...but it's got Alli Mauzey and a strong second act with some outstanding numbers. I think some of the more negative critics would have acknowledged as much if they hadn't decided to emphasize the flaws in the production.

Here's a Theatermania video that offers glimpses from a preview of the production.



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FREE COOPER-HEWITT!

Get your fill of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for free from Sunday, October 14 through Saturday, October 20, 2007. Find more information about the National Design Week promotion here.

You can also vote for the People's Design Award over here. I'm so impressed by Debbie Glasserman's Gluten-Free Alphabet (pictured) for the Gluten-Free NYC Boutique that I nominated it! (You can find it—and vote for it, and comment on it—by searching for gluten at the PDA site.)

Related events include a Sunday, October 21 discussion on "Crimes of Taste" featuring John Waters and—as if Waters weren't enough—Simon Doonan, among others. (Note that there's a 2-for-1 discount.) And, speaking of Waters, there's also a crazy Broadway Backstage with David Rockwell event on Friday, October 19 involving dinner at Nobu 57 and the show Hairspray, followed by a backstage tour—all for a mere $500!

MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: HAIRSPRAY. Thanks to Myra, I've learned that Time Out New York is offering New York City screening passes to Hairspray.

Starring John Travolta in drag, Hairspray is based on Hairspray, which is based on Hairspray. Crazy!

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, July 12, 2007
Place East Village
Time 7 pm

Register here.



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Here's the original trailer.



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