Review: CRY BABY THE MUSICAL Is A Colorful, Crazy Musical About Prejudice And Personal Strength In Post War Baltimore.

Thursday 26 July 2018, 7:30pm, Hayes Theatre

A deliciously camp confection, CRY BABY THE MUSICAL is a riotous, absurd comedy of class crossed lovers constricted by 1950's post war prejudices. David Javerbaum (Lyrics), Adam Schlesinger (Music), and Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan's (Book) musical adaptation of John Water's 1990 motion picture of the same name is given a brilliant, bright treatment by Director and lighting designer Alexander Berlage to bring the quirky musical to the Hayes Theatre stage.

Whilst many would be familiar with O'Donnell and Meehan's musical adaption of Water's movie HAIRSPRAY, CRY BABY THE MUSICAL follows a similar formula with its setting in Baltimore and its focus on bringing two sides of society together through some more progressive teens and a styling meant to shock and push the boundaries of 'good taste'. With CRY BABY, the sweeter than apple pie good girl Allison Vernon-Williams (Ashleigh Rubenach), a 'square' clean cut American girl next door, falls for Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker (Christian Charisiou), a rock and roll singer and head of the group of juvenile delinquents known as 'drapes'. This love interest sees Allison rebelling against her prim and proper parental figure, grandmother Mrs Vernon-Williams (Beth Daly), a leader in the respectable community that is characterized by membership of Women's groups and private country clubs. Added to the challenge of the Romeo and Juliet style love story are the goody too shoes Baldwin (Joel Granger) who used to be Allison's boyfriend of sorts, and Lenora (Laura Murphy), the young deluded misfit groupie that thinks she stands a chance with Cry Baby.

Set designer Isabel Hudson draws on the show's movie origins to present a cinema style simple proscenium with drive in lightbulb signage which makes way to reveal a barber shop striped box stage. The raised space also allows for the shows within the show where Baldwin and his saccharine Whiffles entertain the staid and stuffy country club and Dupree and Cry Baby melt hearts at the Turkey Point hangout. Whilst bold, the set however seems tame when Mason Browne's fabulous costumes are bought into the picture. For the staid WASP world of the squares, Browne has utilized a pastel palette, poodle skirts and preppy bow ties. He contrasts this restraint with creativity and freedom for the drapes multicolored costumes of bold colors and patterns with more adventurous figure-hugging wiggle skirts and a rockabilly rebellion.

As the orphaned Allison, Ashleigh Rubenach is brilliant and proves that she is the next young starlet to watch out for. Rubenach has a perfect image for the old fashioned girl next door but also has the sass and charm to ensure that the characters she inhabits are easily likable. Her vocals are wonderful in strength and purity as she can transition from the girl next door fronting the Whiffles to rocking out with Cry Baby and the Drapes with a bold rock. She delivers a wonderfully detailed performance, capturing the small nuances of the character with great attention to detail such as the straightening of the bedclothes that were ruffled when she sat on them and the conviction in fluffing the pillow.

Christian Charisiou delivers an appropriately mysterious misunderstood bad boy for his portrayal of orphan Wade as he channels the 1950's leather clad rockers to shock Mrs Vernon -Williams and the Squares and win Allison's affections. Cry Baby's sidekick Dupree is presented with flair and charm by Alfie Gledhill who captures the aspiring DJ's energy along with the undertone that he, like the other drapes, have struggled for any level of success in a world where he is the underdog. Manon Gunderson-Briggs, Amy Hack and Bronte Florian round out Cry Baby's gang as Hatchetface, Wanda and Pepper respectively. These three women are fabulously funny and deliciously over the top as the disfigured girl with a taste for knives, nymphomaniac, and soon to be teen mother, all whilst ensuring that their characters are seen as likable and accepting.

As Allison's grandmother, Beth Daly channels Frasier Crane's agent Bebe to create an over the top expression of an extremely image conscious leader of the community who can never run the risk of someone capturing her bad side so is constantly posing with signature flourishes. Joel Granger ensures that the ambitious Baldwin is seen for the manipulative snake he is beneath the patent leather oxfords and pink pastel. His 'boy band' of bullied Whiffles are presented by Hayden Baum, Aaron Gobby and Ksenia Zofi who capture essence of the nerdy squares that are persistently pushed around by Baldwin. These three along with Brooke Almond and Blake Erickson round out the ensemble with Erickson delivering some hilarious face acting as the Anti-Polio Picnic poster boy Skippy Wagstaff.

CRY BABY is an incredibly amusing comedy that, in John Waters style, delves right into shock territory with scenes that have you both roaring with laughter and trying to stop yourself from gagging. Some utterly absurd moments, captivating visuals and brilliant vocals, this is an inventive and utterly enjoyable night of entertainment whilst also sharing the message that people should not be judged on their appearance or their pocketbook as money can't buy humanity and decency.

CRY BABY

https://hayestheatre.com.au/event/cry-baby/

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