‘It’s a beautiful day to get a polio shot’ is the opening line of the fabulous ensemble song at the ‘Anti-Polio Picnic of 1954.’ This tongue-in-cheek spectacular is based on the John Waters film of 1990, first played on Broadway in 2008, sending up the likes of Grease and West-Side Story with a ‘good girl’ falling for the ‘bad boy’ from the other side of the tracks.
This Drapes (the rebels) versus the Squares (the wholesome types) story is hammed it up for all its worth. Against the ties and lapel pins of the Squares, the Drapes have chains, visible signs of violence and teen pregnancy.
This is the world of John Waters whose grotesquely camp vision of suburban Baltimore in the post war years had previously given us Hairspray. This production satirises US conservatism in a way which is particularly resonant at the moment with the right wing in the ascendant as it was not when the film on which this was based was released in 1990.
The Drapes leader, rock singer Cry Baby, falls for prom queen Allison in a scene which plays with the tropes of attraction and infection in a mischievously suggestive way: ‘Whatever you shot into me, I need another dose’ coos the sweet but soon to be corrupted Allison, played to perfection by Lulu-Mae Pears with just the right mixture of curiosity and trepidity. Adam Davidson is the hero who gives his all in response.
Though we think we are on familiar territory (the challenge of rock and roll to conventional culture), it is all satirical. The best songs send us off kilter with sendups with lyrics like ‘Girl, can I kiss you with tongue?’ Written by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, all are original to the musical, this being its first major production in the UK.
The conflict is between the ever-smiling but really wicked Square, Baldwin, played by Elliott Allinson, and Adam Davidson’s Cry Baby who has not cried since his innocent parents were sentence to the electric chair on a trumped-up charge. Continuing the theme of 1950s America, the ‘Junior disaster committee’ throws a party to inaugurate a nuclear bomb shelter.
There is a wonderful supporting performance given by Eleanor Walsh as the disturbed squeaky-voiced Lenora ‘with a screw loose’’ who is besotted with Cry Baby and wails, ‘I just don’t see the harm, in carving your name on my arm.’ She gives some of the best singing performances of the show. Chad St Louis as Cry Baby’s sidekick, Dupree, thoroughly deserved the extra cheer he received at the end.
The three ‘bad girls’ and four good boys (the Whiffles) are exemplary in each proffering distinct personalities and provide some of the most energetic dancing I have seen for a while. Indeed, the whole cast ooze talent.
The show numbers, and also some great rock and roll, are played by a live band with a particularly good (and seemingly very young) lead guitarist. This is bright, loud, fast-moving and very funny show played on a colourful, versatile set.
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/
Directed by Mehmet Ergen
Book by Mark O’Donnelll and Thomas Meegham
Songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger
Cast includes Eliot Allinson, Adams Davidson, Shirley Jameson, Lulu-Mae Pears, Chad Saint Louis, Eleanor Walsh
Duration 2 hours 15 minutes including 15 minute interval
Until 12 April 2025
Picture: Charlie Flint