Cry Baby: The Musical

Based on the screen version, this fun-filled musical follows the style of that other John Waters film-to-stage adaptation, Hairspray, featuring characters who break from the confines of 1950s norms in squeaky clean Baltimore (Waters’ home town). The musical is much more fun than the film, with a book by Tony Award-winning Mark O’Donnell (Annie, The Producers, and Hairspray) and Thomas Meehan (Hairspray), and songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger (who worked together on The Daily Show). The satire is thick and fast and captured brilliantly with witty songs including ‘The Anti-Polio Picnic’, ‘Squeaky Clean’, ‘Nobody Gets Me’, ‘Baby Baby Baby Baby (Baby Baby) Baby’, ‘You Can’t Beat the System’ and ‘Thanks for the Nifty Country’. Some of the sharp lyrics (“Life is a trumped up charge”, “We’re very straight and extremely narrow”) were a tad lost by the theatre’s muffled sound system but the cast rose above it to give a polished performance in an extremely fun mash-up that brings to mind Bye Bye Birdie meets Jailhouse Rock.

All 60 of the Musical Theatre students from the Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium course were involved in this production, which showcases the acting, dancing and vocal talents of the third-year students, with first- and second-year talent taking up supporting roles. In the production I saw (there were two casts) the leading roles of Cry Baby Walker and love interest Allison were handled superbly by Mackinley Brown and Charlotte Page. They both have the charisma and comic timing – and fantastic singing voices – to carry off these quirky leads. Their supporting cast were wonderful too. Matthew Casamento hit all his marks as Allison’s squeaky clean (or is he?) boyfriend, Baldwin. His trio of barbershop bandmates – Bradley J. Oakman, Michael Jarrett and William Kasper – were suitably smarmy underneath their heavenly harmonies. Juliette Milne won the audience over and nearly stole the show as kooky Cry Baby groupie, Lenora. Cry Baby’s sidekicks, Pepper, Wanda and Mona were masterfully handled by Emma Wilby, Isabella Gaskin and Meg Hargraves. They even took to the bandstand to back up seriously great singer, Sophie Montague as Dupree, soon to be Cry Baby’s rockin’ cell mate. It’s hard to fault this cast, as even playing well outside her age bracket, Eliza Vine was pitch perfect as Mrs Vernon Williams, and I’m glad she had her starring confessional moment with ‘I Did Something Wrong Once’. A brilliant comic performance. Also stretching his age range, Benjamin Richards played the Judge with succinct comic maturity with no hamming in sight (well, maybe just a slice!)

Director Alister Smith has achieved a professional, polished production with just the right balance of musical showcasing, character development and comic gusto. Aided by Musical Director Heidi Loveland and Choreographer and Associate Director Dan Venz, Cry Baby gives audiences the song and dance numbers they have grown to expect from these award-winning shows. And this production is a non-stop display with just over 20 musical numbers, enhanced by sound design from Andy Griffiths. I loved the print-pixel-and-pastel-perfect dynamic set and cartoon costume design by Penny Challen, with complementary fluro-glow lighting design by Keith Clark.

In a recently announced partnership with the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), the Griffith University course is now a world-first Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre. This puts the pressure on the team to deliver top-quality professional mainstage musical productions. However, I don’t think there will be a problem with the calibre of talent that this Musical Theatre course is producing – it continues to place Queensland performers on stages nationally and internationally. Our musical future is bright – and appearing on a stage at QPAC soon!

Beth Keehn

Images courtesy of Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University

Read about the new Academy of Excellence: https://news.griffith.edu.au/2023/08/04/curtain-call-for-new-academy/