Hellooo! I've been going through a bit of a musical/Broadway phase at the moment and I LOVE my most recent discovery - Screw Loose from Cry Baby! Alli Mauzey played the original Lenora who sings the twisted love song with unbelievable belts. I think I found the song after watching videos on YouTube of Alli playing Wicked's Glinda alongside Donna Vivino's Elphaba who are both just incredible but I'll talk about that another time! Anyway, I stumbled across a video of Seth Rudetsky talking to Alli on the Playbill Video YouTube Channel where Alli explains how she shaped her role and altered the song to mold it into the track it is now!
The song includes a steel guitar instrumental which is sung by the vocalist which Alli says was added in by the writers but the parts where the song jumps up an octave were created by herself. I love seeing behind the scenes explanations of why things are the way they are in songs and shows so I found it extremely interesting! If you're intrigued then watch the video on the right and I highly recommend that you do!
Following the chat, Alli goes on to sing Screw Loose and good God it's good! The song starts at 3:10 for those interested! She plays the part perfectly with the look of an obsessed stalker as she shamelessly sings about the 'voice in her brain' before singing the guitar section. Now this is where it gets even better! The lines 'it's so hard to be 16 and schizo' and 'screw loose, clinically certified' are completely amazing! Alli hits the notes spot on and the way she goes from nearly screaming 'screw loose, clinically certified' to creepily stating how 'a panel of doctors tried to lock her away' is impressive! The song is written so cleverly and I love the comedy thoughout the song as much as I love the amazing belts!
Oh and in the video above, they mention that there is no cast recording available but last year they released one! If you live in the UK like I do, I think the only places you can get it from are Amazon and Ebay where you can get it imported. I haven't watched the full show but it's floating around on YouTube so I'll definitely watch it at some point!
Alli pulls off the character with ease and I love hearing the audience laugh along in the video to the left from the show. I've also added links to a couple more performances below which I highly recommend you watch! The interview with Seth is the most recent video and it's interesting to see how Alli's voice has grown over the years!
Overall, I love Alli Mauzey's powerful voice and with Screw Loose added to the ridiculously high operatic-style notes Glinda sings in Wicked, it just shows how full her range is! I love the comedic lyrics in Cry Baby and I'm blown away with the belts!
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
Alli Mauzey's Links
