A Star Is Born

John Waters became an unlikely Broadway baby when the musical version of Hairspray became a smash hit a few years ago. Given Broadway’s love of adapting, re-adapting, and then repackaging, it was only a matter of time before another Waters movie made its way to the stage. I like to imagine Marc Shaiman trying valiantly to set castration and shit-eating to a jaunty tune for a Pink Flamingos adaptation, but to my knowledge that train wreck exists only in my head. In the meantime, though, the Broadway powers-that-be have brought Cry-Baby to the Great White Way.

The show is, unfortunately, not among the best I’ve seen. There are some good songs, moments of humor throughout, and some excellent performances, but the show never jelled enough to make those individually successful components into a really great show. I managed to have a really fun time, though, due, in no small part, to the fact that my friend Michael Buchanan is making his Broadway debut as part of the ensemble. From the opening number, there he was rocking a sweater vest and slicked-down hair as one of the squares. And he got some serious audience love in the final 20 minutes of the show as a seriously tall Uncle Sam. He was dancing on stilts! That is something new for the resume.

Interestingly, I can’t really comment on what any of you will see if you go to see the show from here on out. In chatting with Michael after the show, I learned that I saw the final performance of that incarnation of the first act. The show is still in previews, a time when creative tweaks and changes are often made, and apparently the first act is undergoing a pretty major overhaul. I’m actually glad to hear it, as the first act was the weaker of the two and has room for some improvement. I hope it’s tightened and infused with a few more surprises, musically-speaking.

Anyway, congrats to Michael!