Wonderettes really are marvelous
Opening night at Kelowna Actors Studio was a buzz of high school nostalgia with the stage lit up for a story of four friends who got the gig to perform for their 1958 senior prom.
Each character represents a typical type of girl:
Suzy - the slightly ditzy wide-eyed ball of energy with a wad of gum permanently masticating in her mouth; she’s in love with the guy running the lights.
Cindy Lou — the flirtatious blond who caught the eye of cheeky Betty Jean’s boyfriend, which is causing a riff in the group
Missy — the natural leader, always calming the arguments and keeping everyone focused on the music.
Cheeky, gregarious Betty Jean — whose boyfriend is eyeing Cindy Lou
“Eyes, people!” Together they are the Wonderettes — oh, wait, the Marvelous, “Marvelous Wonderettes.” Strike a pose!
This fun musical review of classic 1950s and ’60s songs, features fashions and colours to match the four personalities: Meet boisterous in blue Suzy (played by Madeleine Molgat); perky in pink Cindy Lou (Alexandra Holowaty); passionate in purple Missy (Delphine Litke); and gregarious in green Betty Jean (Denise Dercksen-Wolfe).
From the opening number right through to the last stanza of the finale, the cast of four did not stop emoting energy, fun and vigour.
All four are always on stage, singing every song, either as the soloist or within the four-part harmonies that were performed to flawless perfection. And did I mention funny?
Songs like Mr. Sandman, Lollipop, All I Have To Do Is Dream set the scene of these four friends until Betty Jean finds “Lipstick on Your Collar.”
Missy reveals her “Secret Love” for “Mr. Lee” and then calls upon an unsuspecting young man from the audience to come up on the stage to portray the role while songs to him or about him are being sung by the foursome.
There is more audience participation when we are involved to vote for prom queen after we witness four rather unimpressive talents in that portion of the competition.
Suzy won the contest at the opening night show, and named her boyfriend Ritchie as her King, at which point he, as the light booth operator, blinked the stage lights to acknowledge his love for her.
As Act II begins at the group’s 10-year reunion in 1968, three of girls run on stage, this time in go-go style block square mini-dresses and boots in their signature colours.
Suzy is late to the stage but upon arrival, it’s revealed she is in her final months of pregnancy.
Huffing and puffing, frustrated she can’t zip up the vinyl boots in her signature colour blue. Molgat got the laughs by milking her physical stature and playing on the mood swings.
I was especially impressed to see this young talent, who is no stranger to the KAS stage, own her lead role in the quartet, and sing like a seasoned professional with technical precision and palpable longing — and she’s just 16.
After a few more tunes, including Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and Heat Wave, the rest of the girls’ stories unfold and we learn whether Betty Jean or Cindy Lou married Johnny.
When the girls’ reel with joy over Missy’s love life, she bucks up to sing You Don’t Own Me, stamping her approval with the others who join in to infuse more attitude into a song already laden in it.
Litke’s visual comedy and pristine vocal chops makes the songs poignant and it lit up the first quarter of the second act.
Dercksen-Wolfe sang her best in That’s When The Tears Start. This song was approached with a breathy undertone and in a more sombre sweet quality, which made it a standout song for her.
Holowaty gave us a jaw-dropping vocals in Son Of A Preacher Man exuding sexy and sweet then when all four joined in for Leader Of The Pack, it punched that salty vibrant attitude with relentless energy without pause right to the bows of the finale.
All and all, this is a musical guaranteed to bring back happy memories of a more innocent time, when music allowed us to express feelings too difficult to share any other way.
You will truly enjoy this show: “Thank you, Good Night, Sincerely.”
The Marvelous Wonderettes runs to Feb. 24, including Saturday matinees.
The Kelowna Actors Studio and dinner theatre is at 1379 Ellis St.and tickets can be purchased through Kelowna Tickets.
The 2019-20 season was revealed with upcoming shows including The Rocky Horror Show, Beauty and the Beast, Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Forum, Deathtrap, Gypsy and Grease.