“Baby” : The Warmest Musical You Might Be Overlooking
La Chanze, Carolee Carmello and Moeisha McGill at the Paper Mill Playhouse (Photo: Jerry Dalia)
by Chris Peterson
The other day, someone commented on why the musical Baby hasn’t gotten more love. I absolutely agree. I find myself wondering why this one is not pulled forward more often.
Because Baby feels like us. It’s cozy and real and kind of laugh-in-the-middle-of-a-serious-moment funny. Not because it’s full of jokes, but because real life is funny. Real life is messy. Real life is two people trying to make dinner and also navigate a life change that feels bigger than the house they’re standing in. You don’t need a big set or elaborate lighting to make this show work. It breathes just fine without the spectacle.
You get three couples, all figuring out pregnancy in completely different ways, and suddenly you have a story full of vulnerability and late-night honesty and the kinds of conversations you only have when you’re scared and excited at the same time.
These characters aren’t types. They’re real people. You don’t have to “play” them so much as step into them. And for actors, especially those in community and educational theatre, that kind of material is gold. It gives them something true to hold onto.
And the music. Maltby and Shire write like they’re talking directly to the nervous system. The score is heartfelt without tipping over into sentimentality. Songs feel like emotional journeys instead of vocal gymnastics. “The Story Goes On” can change someone if they’re ready for it. Not because it’s showy, but because it asks the performer to mean every single word. It rewards sincerity more than sheer power. You don’t need a seventeen-piece orchestra. You just need people willing to sing honestly.
The other thing about Baby is how familiar it all feels. Almost everyone knows someone who has gone through the uncertainty of expecting a child. The joy and the exhaustion, the planning and the panic, the moments where two adults stare at each other thinking what did we just sign up for. Community audiences connect to that. College casts learn from it. It’s regular life, but highlighted just enough to be theatre.
Baby isn’t forgotten. It’s just waiting patiently, the way some shows do. It doesn’t need a radical reimagining or a trendy update. It just needs someone to pick it up and say yes. Someone to trust that a story can be meaningful without being loud.
So if you’re programming a season or choosing a spring musical or just tired of the same three titles being tossed around like they’re the only options, consider Baby. Read it again. Listen to it again. Let it sit with you for a bit.
Because sometimes the show that feels small on the surface ends up being the one that reaches people the deepest. And audiences know when something feels honest. Baby is honest.