Producer LPD in association with Hayes Theatre Co have announced several of the cast members for the upcoming Australian Premiere of the rockabilly musical, Cry-Baby. Playing at Hayes Theatre Co from 20 July, Cry-Baby is based on the 1990 cult-classic John Waters film of the same name, which starred Johnny Depp.
“We are thrilled with our incredible and hilariously bonkers cast for this Australian Premiere of Cry-Baby The Musical,” says Director Alexander Berlage. “We are stoked to have a such exciting group of performers assembled to bring the musical adaption of John Water’s rip-roaring, satirical comedy about paranoia, bigotry and the irrational fear of ‘the other’ to the stage.”
The title role of Cry Baby, the leader of the gang known as the ‘Drapes’, will be played by Christian Charisiou who has featured in Rake and Griffin Theatre Company’s The Witches. Laura Murphy (Muriel’s Wedding, Grease) will play Lenora, who desperately wants to be a Drape as she is in love with Cry Baby, while Joel Granger (Brigadoon, Dogfight) plays Baldwin, Allison’s boyfriend, an enthusiastic square.
In the role of Mrs Vernon Williams, Allison’s protective Grandmother, will be Beth Daly (Grey Gardens, Fiddler on the Roof), while Alfie Gledhill (Griffin’s Replay) is Dupree, Cry Baby’s best friend, and Sarah Murr (Les Miserables, A Little Night Music) is Hatchet Face, a Drape who many others fear.
Pepper, Cry Baby’s tough sister, will be played by Bronte Florian (Kinky Boots, High Fidelity) and Wanda, a Drape who just wants to be Jane Mansfield, will be Amy Hack (Romeo and Juliet). The ensemble includes Hayden Baum (Cats) and newcomers Aaron Gobby (Chimerica) and Ksenia Zofi (Peter Pan & Tinker Bell).
Joining Berlage as part of the creative team is musical director Nicholas Griffin (The View UpStairs, Disney’s The Little Mermaid); choreographer Cameron Mitchell (The View UpStairs, Calamity Jane); set designer Isabel Hudson (The View UpStairs, Dry Land); costume designer Mason Browne (Darlinghurst Nights, Ruthless); and Associate Lighting Designer Veronique Bennett (Blood Wedding, A Girl is a Half Formed Thing).
It’s 1954. Everyone likes Ike, nobody likes communism and Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker is the coolest boy in Baltimore. He’s a bad boy with a good cause – truth, justice and the pursuit of rock and roll. Cry-Baby and the square rich girl, Allison, are star-crossed lovers at the centre of this world.
Fueled by hormones and the new rhythms of rock and roll, she turns her back on her squeaky-clean boyfriend, Baldwin, to become a “drape” (a Baltimore juvenile delinquent) and Cry-Baby’s girl. At the other end of the topsy-turvy moral meritocracy of 1954 America, Baldwin is the king of the squares and leads his close-harmony pals against the juvenile delinquents.
Featuring a delightfully ridiculous book from the writers of Hairspray (Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan) and David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger’s rip-roaring score including the wildly titled songs such as The Anti-Polio Picnic; Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache & Woe; and Girl, Can I Kiss You With Tongue? – Cry-Baby is a one off, wacky, strange and endearing musical.
Cry-Baby The Musical plays at the Hayes Theatre Co. from 20 July 2018. For more information, visit: www.hayestheatre.com.au for details.
Image: Cry-Baby The Musical – photo by Robert Catto