For slightly less than four minutes tonight, Charm City, circa 1954, will grab the spotlight -- and possibly try to fence it.
The 2008 Tony Awards will be handed out at New York's Radio City Music Hall. In keeping with tradition, one number from each of the four shows nominated for best musical will be staged during the live, three-hour national broadcast.
Cry-Baby, the stage version of John Waters' cult 1990 film, made the cut, and the show's producers have decided to re-enact a maximum-voltage prison break sequence called "A Little Upset."
"None of the other shows, not even the revivals, have a big, high-energy dance number like this one," says Elan McAllister, one of the show's producers. "That will make us stand out."
The number is set at the fictitious Maryland Vocational Training Farm for Wayward Punks (modeled on the state prison in Jessup) and the 16 singers and dancers will be introduced by Waters, the Free State's chief delinquent.
Dancers will strap yellow license plates with black numerals onto their feet -- replicas of Maryland tags in the 1950s -- while they leap, spin and turn handsprings. As the metal rectangles strike the wooden stage floor, the rhythmic clanks and scrapes become the aural equivalent of Morse code. The effect is undeniably thrilling.
Rob Ashford, the guy who choreographed that routine, is Cry-Baby's best chance for taking home a Tony tonight, having already picked up Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his bravura moves.
Unlike 2003, when Hairspray, another musical inspired by a Waters film, swept the awards ceremony, Cry-Baby is not expected to receive best musical honors.
This year, most observers say they believe that particular battle will come down to Passing Strange, which traces the musical odyssey of a young, black Bohemian; and In the Heights, the salsa and meringue-infused tale of a close-knit Hispanic barrio in Manhattan. Passing Strange won the Drama Desk Award for best musical, while In the Heights was nominated for a Tony in 13 categories, the most of any show this year.
Cry-Baby received four nominations. In addition to nods for best musical and best choreography, the song-writing team of Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum are up for top score for their songs, which parody musical styles ranging from Lawrence Welk to rockabilly. Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell were nominated for their pun-filled script.
An open letter
