and Monica Bradley. All photos by Anne Hudson
Sad that spring hasn’t sprung? Got
a bad case of the blue meanies? Well, you can either wash down your vitamin D
pills with a dram of Jack Daniels or you can get yourself out to the Ivoryton
Playhouse for a shot of “Shout! The Mod Musical.” The show may not make the
crocuses bloom but it will certainly put a smile on your face and get your toes
a-tapping, especially if you remember Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Lulu and
Marianne Faithfull.
Created by Phillip George and David
Lowenstein and directed by the Playhouse’s Jacqueline Hubbard, “Shout!” takes
you back to the 60s and early 70s, a time when England swung “like a pendulum do.”
Carnaby Street
and Abbey Lane ,
mini-skirts and go-go boots, the Greasers and the Mods…and the music. It’s all
delightfully captured in this revue that features five talented actresses
covering 30 songs that, for many, will bring back fond (if sometimes foggy)
memories.
Tamala Baldwin
There’s a double frame for the
show: articles from the hip magazine “Shout” (read by Steve Phelan) that
embrace the “philosophy” of the era as well as everything that was au courant, and an advice column written
by Gwendolyn Holmes (Beverly Taylor) that offers advice that is the antithesis
of the “let it all hang out” message “Shout” delivers.
The five young ladies alternately
scan the pages of the magazine for advice about men, fashion and sex while,
when confronted with one or more of life’s problems, write to Gwendolyn for
advice, the variant messages capturing the ambiguity of the times as the drab post-war
era, and its morals, styles (or lack of same) and inhibitions, slowly gave way
to an era of color, light and, some might say, noise and anarchy.
Mikah Horn
The feverish, frisky, fraught girls
are, as written, stereotypes, but the actresses taking on the roles quickly
fill out their characters and make them come alive. There’s the Blue Girl
(Jennifer Lorae) who knows what answer the mirror will give when she asks who’s
the fairest of them all, and is on the make for a the perfect man (i.e., one
with rich parents). Then there’s the Yellow Girl (Tamala Baldwin), an American
ex-pat who longs for just a glimpse of Paul (Who’s Paul? Well, he was the cute
one – it’s Ringo who takes out the garbage). The Orange Girl (Mikah Horn)
yearns for blissful domesticity, or at least she thinks she does, while the
Green Girl (Monica Bradley) yearns for a good shag. Finally there’s the Red
Girl (Bethany Fitzgerald), the one with glasses, pimples and a sign pinned on
her back that says “Socially Inept!”
With a tiered set by Daniel
Nischan, a vibrant lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and dead-on costumes by
Kari Crowther, the venerable Playhouse shimmers, shakes and shines as the
quintet moves seamlessly from number to number, all choreographed with a good
eye for period moves and dance steps by Caitlin Sailer and backed up by two
keyboards (Kyle Norris and Melanie Guerin), a bass (Dominic DeMonico) and
percussion (Marty Wirt).
Each of the actresses is given
numerous moments to strut her stuff and develop her character – of special note
is Bradley’s monologue about her character’s relationship with her boyfriend
and Fitzgerald’s rendition of her character’s shot at stardom – singing Lulu’s
“To Sir With Love” at an amateur night contest – all in an effort to get her
boyfriend to fondle her.
Bethany Fitzgerald, Tamala Baldwin and Monica Bradley
However, it’s the ensemble work
that drives the show, and it is excellent. Taking on such diverse numbers as
“Downtown,” “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” “Georgy Girl” and Windy,” which segues
into “Who Am I,” “Round Every Corner,” and, of course, “Shout,” the music just
keeps on coming at you, eventually warming the chilliest of hearts. The
wittiest set-up starts with the girls testing out their new-found
proto-feminism by actually saying words that polite society shunned, including
“vagina,” the repetition of which leads to “Cold Finger,” a take-off on
“Goldfinger” complete with choreography that evokes the opening sequences of
the Bond movies. It’s deftly done and a delight.
The roses may still be hibernating
and the gladioli unsure of their welcome, but if you grab a seat at the
Ivoryton Playhouse you will, for at least two hours, forget that robins are
still wearing parkas and bask in the sunshine of “Shout!” Yes, those were the
days, and if you remember them, or want to experience them for the first time,
there’s no better place to go than the Ivoryton Playhouse.
“Shout!” runs through April 6
(surely by then it will be spring).
For tickets or more information call 860-767-7318 or go to
www.ivorytonplayhouse.org
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