Cry-Baby
Encyclopedia
Cry-Baby is a 1990 American teen
musical film
written and directed by John Waters
. It stars Johnny Depp
as 1950s teen rebel "Cry-Baby" Wade Walker, and also features an expansive ensemble cast
that includes Amy Locane
, Iggy Pop
, Traci Lords
, Ricki Lake
, Kim McGuire
, David Nelson
, Susan Tyrrell
, and Patty Hearst
. The film did not achieve high audience numbers in its initial release, but has subsequently become a cult classic
and spawned a Broadway
musical of the same name
which was nominated for four Tony Award
s.
The film is a parody
of teen musicals (particularly Grease
) and centers on a group of delinquents
called the "Drapes" and their interaction with the rest of the town and its other subculture, the "Squares", in 1950s Baltimore, Maryland. "Cry-Baby" Walker, a Drape, and Allison, a Square, create upheaval and turmoil in their little town of Baltimore by breaking the subculture taboos and falling in love. The film shows what the young couple have to overcome to be together and how their actions affect the rest of the town.
Part of the film takes place at the now-closed Enchanted Forest
amusement park
in Ellicott City, Maryland
. Others take place in the Historic town of Sykesville, Maryland
.
) is the leader of a gang of "Drapes", which includes his teenage mom sister Pepper (Ricki Lake
), facially disfigured Mona "Hatchet Face" Malnorowski (Kim McGuire
), wild and free-spirited Wanda Woodward (Traci Lords
), and Milton Hackett (Darren E. Burrows
), the nervous son of overzealous religious parents. His ability to shed a single tear drives all the girls wild. One day after school, he is approached by Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane
), a pretty girl tired of being a "Square", and the two fall in love. That same day, Cry-Baby approaches the "Square" part of town to a talent show ("Sh-Boom
", "A Teenage Prayer") at the recreation center where Allison's grandmother (Polly Bergen
) hosts events, and introduces himself to her, who is skeptical of his motives. Cry-Baby invites Allison to a party at Turkey Point, a local hangout spot for the Drapes.
Despite her grandmother's skepticism, Allison accompanies Cry-Baby to Turkey Point and sings with the Drapes ("King Cry-Baby"). As Cry-Baby and Allison tell each other about their orphan lives (Cry-Baby's father was sent to the electric chair
after being the "Alphabet Bomber" - a killer who bombed places in alphabetical order [airport], [barber shop]; and Allison's parents, who take separate planes so Allison won't be alone, die when both their planes crash), Allison's jealous square boyfriend, Baldwin (Stephen Mailer
), starts a riot. Cry-Baby is blamed for the fight and sent to a penitentiary
, outraging all his friends and even Allison's grandmother, who is impressed by Cry-Baby's posture, manners, and musical talent.
As Lenora Frigid (Kim Webb), a slut
ty girl with a crush on Cry-Baby but constantly rejected by him, claims to be pregnant with his child, Allison feels betrayed and returns to Baldwin and the Squares, though her grandmother advises her against rushing into a decision. Meanwhile, in the penitentiary, Cry-Baby gets a teardrop tattoo. He tells the tattoo artist, fellow Drape Dupree (Robert Tyree): "I've been hurt all my life, but real tears wash away. This one's for Allison and I want it to last forever!".
Eventually, Allison is persuaded by the newly-established alliance between the Drapes and her grandmother to stand by Cry-Baby and join the campaign for his release ("Please, Mr. Jailer"). Cry-Baby is released but immediately insulted by Baldwin who, after revealing that his grandfather is the one who electrocuted Cry-Baby's father, challenges him to a chicken race. Cry-Baby wins, as Baldwin chickens out, and is reunited with Allison.
The film ends with all watching the chicken race crying a single tear, all except for Allison and Cry-Baby, who has finally let go of the past, enabling him to cry from both eyes.
, with the consensus "John Waters' musical ode to the teen rebel genre is infectious and gleefully camp, providing star Johnny Depp with the perfect vehicle in which to lampoon his pin-up image."
, adding an additional 6 minutes (91 minutes) to its original 85-minute release. The director's cut adds the following:
, the airings include a few additional scenes not in the director's cut:
). It was produced at the La Jolla Playhouse
(California) as part of their 2007 season, as well as shadow-cast at the Nuart Theatre
by Sins O' the Flesh and at Danbarry Cinemas by The Denton Affair.
The show opened at the Marquis Theatre
on March 15, 2008. The show was a critical failure (with many critics comparing it unfavorably to Hairspray) and low tickets sales led the show to close on June 22, 2008 after 45 previews and 68 regular performances.
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
written and directed by John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
. It stars Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as 1950s teen rebel "Cry-Baby" Wade Walker, and also features an expansive ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
that includes Amy Locane
Amy Locane
-Career:Locane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She starred as one of the original cast on the television series Melrose Place, in which she played Sandy, an aspiring actress who waited tables at the show's bar hangout, Shooters. She left Melrose Place after its first 12 episodes of season one and...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
, Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
, Kim McGuire
Kim McGuire
Kim McGuire is a former film and stage actress who gained widespread media attention in the early 1990s following her eye-catching performance as Mona "Hatchetface" Malnorowski in John Waters' cult film Cry-Baby. She has albinism.-Early life:...
, David Nelson
David Nelson (actor)
David Oswald Nelson was an American actor, director, producer. He was the elder son of bandleader/TV actor Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Hilliard and the older brother of singer Eric "Ricky" Nelson.-Career:...
, Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell
Susan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...
, and Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
. The film did not achieve high audience numbers in its initial release, but has subsequently become a cult classic
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
and spawned a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical of the same name
Cry-Baby (musical)
Cry-Baby is a musical based on the 1990 John Waters movie of the same name. The music is by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, and the book is by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. O'Donnell and Meehan also adapted Waters' film Hairspray for the musical stage...
which was nominated for four Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s.
The film is a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of teen musicals (particularly Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
) and centers on a group of delinquents
Juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors who fall under a statutory age limit. Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of crime, most if not...
called the "Drapes" and their interaction with the rest of the town and its other subculture, the "Squares", in 1950s Baltimore, Maryland. "Cry-Baby" Walker, a Drape, and Allison, a Square, create upheaval and turmoil in their little town of Baltimore by breaking the subculture taboos and falling in love. The film shows what the young couple have to overcome to be together and how their actions affect the rest of the town.
Part of the film takes place at the now-closed Enchanted Forest
Enchanted Forest (Maryland)
thumb|240px|Enchanted Forest entrance in 1955The Enchanted Forest is a now-closed theme park in Ellicott City, Maryland, on U.S. Route 40 near the intersection with Bethany Lane...
amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
in Ellicott City, Maryland
Ellicott City, Maryland
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The population was 65,834 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Howard County...
. Others take place in the Historic town of Sykesville, Maryland
Sykesville, Maryland
Sykesville is a town in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,197 at the 2000 census.-History:The land on which Sykesville sits started out as part of a Springfield Estate, owned by wealthy Baltimore shipbuilder William Patterson...
.
Plot
In 1954 Baltimore, Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker (Johnny DeppJohnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
) is the leader of a gang of "Drapes", which includes his teenage mom sister Pepper (Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
), facially disfigured Mona "Hatchet Face" Malnorowski (Kim McGuire
Kim McGuire
Kim McGuire is a former film and stage actress who gained widespread media attention in the early 1990s following her eye-catching performance as Mona "Hatchetface" Malnorowski in John Waters' cult film Cry-Baby. She has albinism.-Early life:...
), wild and free-spirited Wanda Woodward (Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
), and Milton Hackett (Darren E. Burrows
Darren E. Burrows
Darren E. Burrows is an American Actor / Director.Burrows was born in Winfield, Kansas, the son of actor Billy Drago. Burrows is best known for playing Ed Chigliak in the television series Northern Exposure...
), the nervous son of overzealous religious parents. His ability to shed a single tear drives all the girls wild. One day after school, he is approached by Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane
Amy Locane
-Career:Locane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She starred as one of the original cast on the television series Melrose Place, in which she played Sandy, an aspiring actress who waited tables at the show's bar hangout, Shooters. She left Melrose Place after its first 12 episodes of season one and...
), a pretty girl tired of being a "Square", and the two fall in love. That same day, Cry-Baby approaches the "Square" part of town to a talent show ("Sh-Boom
Sh-Boom
"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, members of the R&B vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. It was a U.S...
", "A Teenage Prayer") at the recreation center where Allison's grandmother (Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen
Polly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
) hosts events, and introduces himself to her, who is skeptical of his motives. Cry-Baby invites Allison to a party at Turkey Point, a local hangout spot for the Drapes.
Despite her grandmother's skepticism, Allison accompanies Cry-Baby to Turkey Point and sings with the Drapes ("King Cry-Baby"). As Cry-Baby and Allison tell each other about their orphan lives (Cry-Baby's father was sent to the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
after being the "Alphabet Bomber" - a killer who bombed places in alphabetical order [airport], [barber shop]; and Allison's parents, who take separate planes so Allison won't be alone, die when both their planes crash), Allison's jealous square boyfriend, Baldwin (Stephen Mailer
Stephen Mailer
Stephen McLeod Mailer is an American stage and screen actor. His credits include appearances in films like A League of Their Own, Cry Baby, and Baby Mama, and the television shows Gilmore Girls and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Mailer was born in New York City, New York, the son of novelist...
), starts a riot. Cry-Baby is blamed for the fight and sent to a penitentiary
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, outraging all his friends and even Allison's grandmother, who is impressed by Cry-Baby's posture, manners, and musical talent.
As Lenora Frigid (Kim Webb), a slut
Slut
Slut or slattern is a pejorative term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous...
ty girl with a crush on Cry-Baby but constantly rejected by him, claims to be pregnant with his child, Allison feels betrayed and returns to Baldwin and the Squares, though her grandmother advises her against rushing into a decision. Meanwhile, in the penitentiary, Cry-Baby gets a teardrop tattoo. He tells the tattoo artist, fellow Drape Dupree (Robert Tyree): "I've been hurt all my life, but real tears wash away. This one's for Allison and I want it to last forever!".
Eventually, Allison is persuaded by the newly-established alliance between the Drapes and her grandmother to stand by Cry-Baby and join the campaign for his release ("Please, Mr. Jailer"). Cry-Baby is released but immediately insulted by Baldwin who, after revealing that his grandfather is the one who electrocuted Cry-Baby's father, challenges him to a chicken race. Cry-Baby wins, as Baldwin chickens out, and is reunited with Allison.
The film ends with all watching the chicken race crying a single tear, all except for Allison and Cry-Baby, who has finally let go of the past, enabling him to cry from both eyes.
Cast
- Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
(James IntveldJames IntveldJames Intveld is a Los Angeles rockabilly musician, actor, composer, director. Intveld provided the vocals for the eponymous title character in John Waters' Cry-Baby, and sung "Let's Go Sexin'" in Waters' 2004 movie, A Dirty Shame.-Early work:...
, singing) as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker; to find a young actor for the role of Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, director Waters bought $30 worth of teen magazines, all of which showed Johnny Depp of 21 Jump Street21 Jump Street21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...
on the cover. Depp thought the script was funny and strange, and took the offbeat role to avoid being typecast as a TV teen idol. - Amy LocaneAmy Locane-Career:Locane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She starred as one of the original cast on the television series Melrose Place, in which she played Sandy, an aspiring actress who waited tables at the show's bar hangout, Shooters. She left Melrose Place after its first 12 episodes of season one and...
(Rachel SweetRachel SweetRachel Sweet is an American singer, television writer and actress.-Biography:After beginning her singing career at the age of three, when she won an electric garage door opener in a singing contest, she began recording commercials at the age of six, toured with Mickey Rooney, and performed in Las...
, singing) as Allison Vernon-Williams - Polly BergenPolly BergenPolly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
as Mrs. Vernon-Williams - Susan TyrrellSusan TyrrellSusan Tyrrell is an American actress of Irish descent, known for her role as Ramona Rickettes in the film Cry-Baby.-Background:...
as Ramona Rickettes - Iggy PopIggy PopIggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
as Belvedere Rickettes - Ricki LakeRicki LakeRicki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
as Pepper Walker - Traci LordsTraci LordsTraci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
as Wanda Woodward - Kim McGuireKim McGuireKim McGuire is a former film and stage actress who gained widespread media attention in the early 1990s following her eye-catching performance as Mona "Hatchetface" Malnorowski in John Waters' cult film Cry-Baby. She has albinism.-Early life:...
as Mona Malnorowski/Hatchet-Face - Darren E. BurrowsDarren E. BurrowsDarren E. Burrows is an American Actor / Director.Burrows was born in Winfield, Kansas, the son of actor Billy Drago. Burrows is best known for playing Ed Chigliak in the television series Northern Exposure...
as Milton Hackett - Kim Webb as Lenora Frigid
- Stephen MailerStephen MailerStephen McLeod Mailer is an American stage and screen actor. His credits include appearances in films like A League of Their Own, Cry Baby, and Baby Mama, and the television shows Gilmore Girls and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Mailer was born in New York City, New York, the son of novelist...
as Baldwin (The singing parts of Baldwin and the Whiffles were performed by Andrew Gold, Gerry Beckley of the group AmericaAmerica (band)America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
and Timothy B. Schmidt of The Eagles.) - Jonathan Benya and Jessica RaskinJessica RaskinJessica Raskin is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Susie Q in the John Waters film Cry-Baby.-Filmography:-External links:...
as Snare-Drum and Susie Q, Pepper's son and daughter - Troy DonahueTroy DonahueTroy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
and Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
as Mr. and Mrs. Malnorowski, Hatchet-Face's parents, who sell cigarettes to high school students - Joe DallesandroJoe DallesandroJoseph Angelo D'Allesandro , better known as Joe Dallesandro, is an American actor, and Warhol superstar. Although he never became a mainstream film star, Dallesandro is generally considered to be the most famous male sex symbol of American underground films of the 20th century, as well as a sex...
and Joey HeathertonJoey HeathertonJoey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
as Mr. and Mrs. Hackett, Milton's overzealous, religious parents - Robert Marbury as Pepper's angelic boyfriend
- David NelsonDavid Nelson (actor)David Oswald Nelson was an American actor, director, producer. He was the elder son of bandleader/TV actor Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet Hilliard and the older brother of singer Eric "Ricky" Nelson.-Career:...
and Patricia Hearst as Mr. and Mrs. Woodward, Wanda's parents who remain completely oblivious to their daughter's activities - Robert Tyree as Dupree, a faithful Drape who joins Cry-Baby in the slammer
- Robert Walsh as Judge, the judge who sentences Cry-Baby to the reformatory; he has a crush on Mrs. Vernon-Williams
- Willem DafoeWillem DafoeWillem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
as Hateful guard
Musical numbers
- "Sh-BoomSh-Boom"Sh-Boom" is an early doo-wop song. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and James Edwards, members of the R&B vocal group The Chords and published in 1954. It was a U.S...
" - Baldwin, the Whiffles - "A Teenage Prayer" - Allison
- "King Cry-Baby" - Cry-Baby, Allison, Hatchet-Face, Milton, Pepper, Wanda
- "Teardrops Are Falling" - Cry-Baby, Prisoners
- "The Naughty Lady of Shady LaneThe Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" is a popular song written by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The lyrics suggest that this "naughty lady" driving the whole town crazy is an attractive young woman who "throws those come-hither glances at every Tom, Dick and Joe" and "when offered some liquid...
" (Director's cutDirector's cutA director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
) - Baldwin, the Whiffles - "Doin' Time for Bein' Young" - Cry-Baby, Prisoners
- "Mr. SandmanMr. Sandman"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard which was published in 1954 and first recorded in that year by The Chordettes. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr...
" - Baldwin, the Whiffles - "Please, Mr. Jailer" - Allison, Cry-Baby, Company
- "High School Hellcats" - Cry-Baby, Allison, Company
- "Chicken" (deleted sceneDeleted sceneIn Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
) - Baldwin, the Whiffles
Critical reception
The film currently holds a 78% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with the consensus "John Waters' musical ode to the teen rebel genre is infectious and gleefully camp, providing star Johnny Depp with the perfect vehicle in which to lampoon his pin-up image."
Box office
Cry-Baby opened on April 6, 1990 in 1,229 North American cinemas — an unprecedented number for a John Waters film. In its opening weekend, it grossed a soft $3,004,905 ($2,445 per screen) and grossed $8,266,343 by the end of its theatrical run.Director's cut
The film has a director's cutDirector's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
, adding an additional 6 minutes (91 minutes) to its original 85-minute release. The director's cut adds the following:
- The song "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane"
- The third verse of "A Teenage Prayer"
- A scene where Hatchet Face's parents are selling cigarettes to the high school students
- Extra footage of Cry-Baby driving his motorcycle to the charm school, a cop pursuing him, and an air raid drill that interrupts Allison's act
- An extended take of Wanda's parents questioning the meaning of "the F-wordFuck"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
" - Extended footage of Hatchet Face chasing Susie Q and Snare-Drum around the yard
- A scene with a child contortionist at the talent show
Television airings
When shown on the USA NetworkUSA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, the airings include a few additional scenes not in the director's cut:
- Toe-Joe's does a "work-with-me" spiel instead of thanking his "Nudie Cutie"
- The "Pistol Packin' Mama" (recording by The Hurricanes) dance number
- The deleted musical number "Chicken" - can be seen in the deleted scenes section of the Director's Cut DVD
- Cry-Baby arrives during "So Young" instead of before the song beginning, as in video version
Musical adaptation
Cry-Baby is the second of Waters' films to be adapted for the stage as a musical comedy (following HairsprayHairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
). It was produced at the La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
(California) as part of their 2007 season, as well as shadow-cast at the Nuart Theatre
Nuart Theatre
The Nuart Theatre is L.A.'s premier art house movie venue and the flagship movie theater of the Landmark Theatres chain in the United States of America.-Location:...
by Sins O' the Flesh and at Danbarry Cinemas by The Denton Affair.
The show opened at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...
on March 15, 2008. The show was a critical failure (with many critics comparing it unfavorably to Hairspray) and low tickets sales led the show to close on June 22, 2008 after 45 previews and 68 regular performances.