If I tell you this musical adaptation of John Waters’ 1990 film is gloriously trashy you can take it as high praise indeed. This is a half-ironic, half-loving paean to the juvenile delinquent movies of the 1950s where good girls fall for bad boys.
It has a bouncy score that embraces rock ‘n’ roll, ballads and barbershop, all laced with filthily witty lyrics. Nuclear paranoia, red scares and polio-eradication drives are all part of the mix. It captures Waters’ (the “pope of trash”) love of schmaltzy, schlocky Americana and echoes the lo-fi style of his transgressive early underground flicks like Female Trouble and Pink Flamingoes, all set in his native Baltimore and often starring the drag queen Divine.
