The Andrews Sisters back on local stage
Seventy-five years after their heyday, the singing Andrews Sisters sparked the unlikely hit of the 2015 Orlando Fringe Festival.
Now “Once I Laughed” — the locally created show about the voices behind hits such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” — is poised for a comeback.
Creator Donald Rupe will open a revised and expanded version of the Fringe hit today for Central Florida Community Arts’ theater program.
Just like the career of sisters LaVerne, Maxene and Patty, the musical’s development has had its share of ups and downs.
Rupe spent months tracking down rights to their songs —
and learning how expensive that can be. A chance encounter on an Uber ride provided an unexpected helping hand. A representative of the sisters, all deceased, provided encouragement. And Rupe is now hopeful that his show could become as enduring as the trio’s “Rum and Coca Cola” or “(I’ll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time.”
The Andrews Sisters started singing together as children in the 1920s, but hit their stride the following decade. They supported their family after their father’s business failed, selling millions of records, and entertained troops in World War II.
In a time when the pop charts were dominated by men — especially band leaders such as Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong their tight harmonies stood out. They racked up more than 100 Top 40 hits in the decades to come, paving the way for the future girl groups.
But behind the scenes they feuded, sued one another, broke up and occasionally reconciled — until the next argument.
When Rupe began the project in 2015, he knew next to nothing about LaVerne, who died in 1967; Maxene, who died in 1995; and Patty, who died in 2013. But the more he learned about their tempestuous relationships, the more his passion for the project grew.
“When I found out the last two surviving sisters hadn’t spoken for 20 years, I had to know what happened,” said Rupe, an Orlando resident who runs the CFCArts theater. He learned all about their feuds and triumphs, which give the show its emotion.
“I couldn’t believe nobody’s told their story this way,” Rupe said, “especially when I found out all the drama in their closet.”
Rupe has taught theater for Valencia College and Gateway High School in Kissimmee and directed plays at the Athens Theatre in DeLand, Osceola Arts in Kissimmee and Orlando’s Theatre Downtown.
In 2014, Mad Cow Theatre named Rupe a “Community Champion of the Arts.”
He stumbled upon the Andrews Sisters while looking for songs that would suit three local actresses he admired. He structured a musical revue around a loose story line and opened at the Fringe to packed houses and acclaim, including the Critics’ Choice Award for best musical. The success took everyone by surprise.
“A musical about the Andrews Sisters did not initially strike me as one that would set the Fringe on fire, but from the very first performance, the buzz was palpable,” said Mike Marinaccio, the festival producer. “The audience absolutely loved it. Donald wrote a spectacular play, and the cast was magnificent.”
Sara Catherine Barnes, who starred in the show and will return for the revival, thinks the musical struck a chord on a human level.
“I have two sisters, so I know the dynamics of their relationship is so normal,” said Barnes, who teaches dance at Celebration High School in Osceola County. “Their story is heartwarming and refreshing. You kind of fall in love with these sisters and then your heart breaks.”
Rupe, 32, was eager to revisit the work and turn it into a legitimate musical. First step: Contacting representatives of the sisters’ estates, which turned out to be “surprisingly easy” because of social media fan pages.
The next stroke of luck: “They were enthusiastic about it,” he said. Though “They couldn’t believe I wasn’t 60-plus.”
Getting permission to use 10 songs popularized by the sisters was more daunting. Help arrived during a shift as an Uber driver. Rupe struck up a conversation with a passenger — a musicpublishing lawyer.
“This stranger, from across the country, explained how it all worked,” Rupe said. Still, it took months of research. Original publishers from the 1930s had gone out of business. The music rights had been sold multiple times. Then a compensation plan had to be negotiated: The song owners and the estate each will receive a portion of ticket sales, Rupe said.
Missy Barnes, coordinator of musical theater at Rollins College in Winter Park, thinks the show could find a niche.
“I start thinking about ‘Jersey Boys’ and the great success of that,” said Barnes, who is not related to the “Once I Laughed” actress. “Jersey Boys,” a musical biography of pop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, ran on Broadway for 11 years.
“There’s something about that idea of coming from not much money or fame and then finding the American dream of celebrity that resonates,” the Rollins associate professor said. “And the idea of seeing a women-centered group, especially from a time period where there were fewer women in the music world, is very exciting.”
The demographics of the show’s cast could also help it endure.
Because community, college and high-school theaters tend to have many female participants, those organizations often look for shows that showcase actresses, she said.
Rupe thinks the show’s serendipitous journey bodes well.
“Everything happened accidentally, but at the moment it was supposed to,” he said. “Things kept falling into place. So I’m hopeful.”