My soul just got a boo-boo that a lollipop can't fix. (Cry-Baby 3/29)- Page 3

[RyToast1]

Posted: 3/22/08 at 3:46pm

If the show doesn't even open, is it eligible for Tony noms?

[RyToast1]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 2:36pm

Anybody please? Foster?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 2:54pm

It's really not bad enough to not even open. Think about the shows that have closed in their preview periods. Cry-Baby is bad, but it's really not THAT bad. Not on a close-before-it-opens level. And frankly, now having seen it, I think a lot of the negative buzz is generated by people who love to exaggerate and just long to call something, anything, the worst show they've ever seen or this year's In My Life or whatever and live for to get to use critical catch-phrases. And it's as though they're not selling tickets during previews. The place was packed last night. And it got a partial standing ovation. Not that those mean anything anymore, really, but it's just not in the same league as things in recent memory that have closed before the opened.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 10:55pm

"And that's the lyric he sings "My soul just got a boo-boo that a lollipop can't fix".
Umm... And now my question about whether people were exaggerating about this show's quality as been put to rest. Thanks.
I mean, seriously, is that line supposed to make us care about the character? "

Is the line "Good Morning Baltimore
There's the flasher who lives next door
There's the bum on his bar room stool
They wish me luck on my way to school." supposed to make us care about the character? No.

What about, "I always had the biggest hits
The biggest bathrooms at the Ritz
My showgirls had the biggest tits!"? Is that supposed to endear us to a character?

These lyrics are supposed to parody a character, a musical style, an American time period... Just like the lyrics in Cry- Baby. If something offended you in Cry- Baby, then the creative team did their job... it's supposed to be politically incorrect. The polio jokes are supposed to illustrate how ridiculous the conformist society behaved toward the disease, as well as other issues. They are not using polio for a cheap joke; they are using actual issues like polio, and also Communism, and racism, to illustrate the unfairness and hypocritical nature of society in the 1950's. Being offended by these bits in Cry- Baby is JUST LIKE getting offended by Springtime for Hitler in The Producers.

With that said, good direction should endear one to Tracy Turnblad and Max Bialystock while they sing the above lyrics. Even though the lyrics are politically incorrect, offbeat, dirty, and even weird, we like these characters during their "want songs" because they are specific, fun, 3- dimensional... and these are traits that do not describe most characters in Cry- Baby. But there are parts that I thought were very clever. I think ending with a song called "Nothing Bad's Ever Gonna Happen Again" was quite smart and interesting.

Don't get me wrong- the show has plenty of flaws and problems. But it also has a creative team and cast that are trying their best to craft a fun, clever show. And at many points, they do succeed, in my opinion. When the lyrics aren't repetitive, they are sometimes smart parody--- WHEN COMPLETELY DIVORCED FROM THE DIRECTION.

"Ain't never seen no doctor
Ain't never taken sick
One time I had a stab wound
And a bandaid did the trick
I'm not the type who suffers
From some tiny little prick
But this tenderness I feel
It's painful and it's real
My soul just got a boo- boo that no lollipop can heal!
I'm infected
I'm infected
With these feelings you've injected!"

This lyric is a fairly smart way, within a musical comedy parody, to create a scene of two archetypal 50's teenagers falling in love after getting polio shots. With the right direction, it COULD be good. It's no different than:

"In my ivory tower
Life was just a hostess snack
But now i've tasted chocolate
And i'm never going back"

or maybe from Zombie Prom, a musical that parodies in a similar way to Cry Baby:

"Who will my escort to the prom be
Now that the boy next door's a zombie?"

People criticizing Cry Baby on the basis of some out- of- context heavily satirical, intentionally politically incorrect lyrics is ridiculous. They are comedy lyrics. A lot depends on interpretation and direction.

[pli1018]

Posted: 3/23/08 at 11:33pm

Amen! That's exactly how I felt!

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 3/24/08 at 12:00am

Updated On: 5/7/09 at 12:00 AM

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/24/08 at 12:08am

"if you agree with me that the songs don't always work in Cry-Baby why are you acting like I'm wrong or made some ignorant statement? "

I was attempting to articulate that I agree with some of the opinions that you (and other posters) have written in this thread, and I disagree with others.

As I said, the show has plenty of flaws and problems, but, in getting to the heart of them on this discussion board, I don't believe pulling a random comedy lyric, pointing, and commenting "isn't that bad" is sufficient.

I still remember during In My Life, posters were agape and discussing many lyrics. One that came up a bit was "If I could go back one more time/ I wouldn't have missed that one way sign", sung by the zombie- ish ghost of a dead boyfriend of a minor character... IN A SONG THAT WAS INTENDED TO BE DRAMATIC. In my opinion, this is a creative choice that can be criticized in writing on a board without further illustration of how the moment was performed or directed. There is something inherently wrong with that writing.

But I don't think in this case, the moment can be accurately criticized if you just cite one line of a comedy lyric, without any mention of how the tone of the music is, or the interpretation of the actor/ director...

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 3/24/08 at 12:15am

Updated On: 5/7/09 at 12:15 AM

[mikem]

Posted: 3/24/08 at 12:40am

RyToast, a show has to "officially open" in order to be eligible for Tony noms.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 3/24/08 at 5:56am

I found the direction giving it the tone of them attempting melodrama and failing miserably. That was the lyric that stuck out, but the whole song was just stupid. As I've said, I like camp. I like Xanadu. I didn't expect this to be Hairspray which is not my favorite either... But given that they make a big deal about it being brought to us by the same people, I did expect better direction than what I saw up on that stage.

Updated On: 3/24/08 at 05:56 AM