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| Cry-Baby (musical) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Cry-Baby |
| Music | * Adam Schlesinger |
| Lyrics | Adam Schlesinger |
| Book | Wes Anderson''' |
| Basis | 1990 film Cry-Baby by John Waters |
| Premiere date | 2007 |
| Premiere location | La Jolla Playhouse |
Cry-Baby (musical) is a stage adaptation of the 1990 film Cry-Baby by John Waters, with music and lyrics by Adam Schlesinger and a book by David Javerbaum and Susan Birkenhead. The musical transposes Waters's cult comedy about teenage rebellion and romantic melodrama into a jukebox-inflected pastiche evoking 1950s popular culture, combining theatricality associated with Broadway, Off-Broadway, La Jolla Playhouse, and regional theatre circuits. Its creative team and performers drew on histories linked to Puffin Books-adjacent nostalgia, revivalist staging practices, and popular music traditions influenced by figures connected to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists.
The musical originated when producers at La Jolla Playhouse sought adaptations that bridged cinematic cult status and commercial theatre potential, engaging collaborators with ties to Atlantic Records-adjacent songwriting, Sondheim-era musical theatre sensibilities, and film-to-stage translation precedents like the adaptations of The Producers and Hairspray (musical). Composer-lyricist Adam Schlesinger, known for work with Fountains of Wayne, Ivy (band), and songwriting for Tom Hanks-associated projects, joined book writers David Javerbaum—formerly of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—and Susan Birkenhead, a librettist with credits in Jelly's Last Jam-era Broadway circles. The project entered a development path that involved readings and workshops associated with institutions such as New York Theatre Workshop, Royal National Theatre, and composer residencies similar to programs at MacDowell Colony and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Influences cited by the team included cinematic touchstones like Grease (film), Rebel Without a Cause, and auteurs linked to American International Pictures distributions, while musical references ranged from Little Richard and Elvis Presley to revivalists connected to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Producing entities included personnel with credits at Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, and commercial backers from The Shubert Organization and regional investors who supported premieres at venues including La Jolla Playhouse and later transfers to Broadway-sized theatres.
Set in 1954 Baltimore, the narrative follows the collision of polarized youth cultures when Allison, a debutante linked to Baltimore high-society matrices, becomes enamored of Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, the leader of the local gang of drifters often at odds with suburban teenagers. The plot navigates social anxiety themes evoked in classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and teen melodramas such as Rebel Without a Cause as Allison's flirtation triggers conflicts between doo-wop stylings and uptown propriety. Misunderstandings, courtroom set-pieces reminiscent of scenes in Witness for the Prosecution, and spectacle sequences that echo staging practices from Jesus Christ Superstar and West Side Story unfold, culminating in community reckonings that invoke redemption arcs akin to Shawshank Redemption-type reconciliations and the moral reversals typical of John Waters's filmography.
The premiere production opened at La Jolla Playhouse in 2007, directed by theatre practitioners with prior work at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Second Stage Theater. Following regional runs, the show transferred to Broadway in 2008, playing in theatres managed by entities such as Nederlander Organization and promoted by publicists with connections to Tony Awards campaigns. Cast members who joined the Broadway staging had histories working with companies like Roundabout Theatre Company, Encores!, and touring productions associated with National Tour (Bway) circuits. Choreography drew on innovators from Martha Graham School-adjacent traditions and rock-infused movement languages influenced by performers who toured with Elvis Presley-era revival shows and tribute acts connected to The Beatles cover scenes.
Subsequent productions included regional stagings at venues similar to Goodman Theatre and university productions at institutions such as Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School. International amateur and professional productions appeared in repertoires connected to licensing houses with networks that include Stage Entertainment and Really Useful Group collaborators.
The score, composed by Adam Schlesinger, blends original pastiche songs that echo the catalogs of Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and the vocal harmonies reminiscent of The Drifters and The Platters. Numbers are structured into acts and feature ensemble pieces, ballads, and uptempo rockabilly sequences designed with orchestration traditions linked to arrangers who've worked with Phil Spector-style Wall of Sound conventions and producers from Motown-influenced sessions. The show includes solos for the leads, duets that recall the romantic pairings of Grease (musical), and choreography-led showstoppers referencing televised performances similar to appearances on American Bandstand.
Principal characters include Allison, portrayed in productions by actors with credits on Broadway and television programs such as Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, and Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, cast from performers with backgrounds in rock theatre and indie film similar to alumni from La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and The Public Theater. The supporting ensemble draws from performers who have worked with institutions like The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Metropolitan Opera crossover projects, reflecting a casting practice that sources talent from musical theatre, film, and pop music circuits including artists associated with SNL Band and touring acts for Bruce Springsteen-adjacent covers.
Critical response referenced lineage to cult cinema champions including John Waters and comparisons to stage adaptations like Hairspray (musical), with reviewers from outlets modeled on The New York Times, Variety, and The Guardian weighing in on adaptation fidelity and score. The show contributed to discussions in musical theatre studies at programs like NYU Tisch School of the Arts and influenced subsequent film-to-stage translations assessed in conferences at American Theatre Wing and archives at Billy Rose Theatre Division. Although its commercial run had variably mixed box-office outcomes similar to other transposed properties, Cry-Baby's musical has maintained presence in licensing catalogs and inspired revival interest among regional companies, conservatories, and musicals festivals that celebrate adaptations, such as those programmed by Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Southbank Centre-affiliated events.
Category:2007 musicals Category:Musicals based on films