Review: THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: DREAM ON at Stages Repertory Theatre

Some shows are simply bullet-proof, and THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: DREAM ON certainly belongs in that category. Four girls sing songs you know from the late sixties and later seventies, and it can't miss.

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Houston's Stages Repertory Theatre gets the honor of world premiering this production, and that makes sense given all the other Wonderette vehicles have been mounted there to great acclaim and bustling box office. The cast have all been Wonderettes before, and the audiences are built-in with a loyal fan following already in place. You can feel the standing ovation building the second they start working their way through 30 hit songs that the crowd sings along with gleefully. I saw the production the second weekend, and already audience members were proclaiming to others "This is my THIRD time!"

By my count this is the fourth WONDERETTES show which follows THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES, WINTER WONDERETTES, and WONDERETTES CAPS AND GOWNS. Playwright Roger Bean created THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES as an homage to his mother who was in a '50s style all-girl song club in high school. The original show had the ladies at the 1958 prom entertaining classmates, while subsequent installments have been at various reunions. The first act of DREAM ON finds the foursome coming together 11 years after that initial prom in 1969 to help celebrate the retirement of their homeroom teacher, Mrs. McPherson. Act Two flashes forward another 9 years to 1978 and their 20th reunion. We get a ton of hits from both eras in each act complete with Mod inspired Go-Go outfits in the first part and sequin splashed jumpsuits for the disco days.

The veteran cast includes Rachael Logue as Cindy Lou, Chelsea Ryan McCurdy as Missy, Christina Stroup as Betty Jean, and Holland Vavra as Suzy. These girls have been with the Wonderettes at Stages from the very start in 2010, and they are directed and choreographed by Melissa Rain Anderson who is also returning to guide the troops through the show. They all work together seamlessly, and it seems effortless to get them to crank out all of these songs and the stock characters they play which have now become second nature. Each performer gets a block of solos, but truly the best parts are when the quartet is going full force together on jams such as "Gimme Some Lovin" or "I've Got the Music in Me". It's an interesting journey because we get to see four white girls take on iconic rock as well as rhythm and blues, and they create a nerdy sorority stamp on everything. As performers Rachael Logue and Christina Stroup play on their big voices to get them through, while Holland Vavra and Chelsea Ryan use their physical comedy to help out. It becomes almost "fishes out of water" when you consider the material, but the Wonderettes find a way to make Gloria Gaynor and Thelma Houston their own. Oddly enough it is the Karen Carpenter song that seems to lack soul, but otherwise the girls give these songs their due with Wonderette vocal adaptations.

Technically the gym set looks good enough in act one, and then gets a downright impressive disco makeover for act two. The entire floor is swapped out during intermission, and the lights and sound cues are on point throughout the evening. If there is a weak point, it has to be the clothes and hair for the Wonderettes. The sixties outfits resemble brightly colored potato sacks, and then the sparkly jumpsuits seem like a great idea for the second part. That is until you realize the sequins when brushed by anything reverse color and look like there might be a hole in the outfit. Wigs are far too easy to spot, and they are badly in need of styling and attention. I know the idea is the Wonderettes are homegrown singers wearing Simplicity patterns they made, but surely they deserve better than this when they perform.

Yet something tells me grateful summer audiences are not going to be nitpicky over clothes and hair, they are here for the comfortable nostalgia and gentle humor. That is where they win every time, because THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: DREAM ON provides people with something familiar and easy to access. Theatre types call them "jukebox musicals" when shows simply allow casts to sing familiar hits which turn the evening into a karaoke event rather than a true play. It doesn't help the "barely there" plot and revelations about the girls and their lives are just banter to get from one golden oldie to the next. The script isn't much, but the songs and the performances within make up for everything. You're going to have a good time no matter who you are, because it's simply a joy to spend an evening with four girls who are funny and can sing. For a summer show at Stages that seems enough, and I am sure it will be a huge hit that gets extended many times over. It's charming, silly, fun, and wonderful.

THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES: DREAM ON runs through September 18th according to the parameters of the announced run. Tickets can be purchased through the web site at http://stagestheatre.com/ or by calling the box office at (713) 527-0123.

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