Cry-Baby is a musical based on the 1990 John Waters movie of the same name. The music is written 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.Grode, Eric. NY Sun review of April 28, 2008 The musical focuses on Baltimore teenager Allison Vernon-Williams, who is drawn across the tracks from her 1954 finishing-school background into a relationship with the orphaned Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, the leader of a pack of lowlives.

The musical premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California on November 18, 2007 and ran through December 16. Previews began on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on March 15, 2008, with an official opening on April 24, 2008.playbill article, March 15, 2008, "Cry-Baby Sheds Its First Tear on Broadway March 15" Directed by Mark Brokaw with choreography by Rob Ashford, the cast features Harriet Harris and James Snyder as "Cry-Baby".