[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Bikinis" at Actors' Summit

[Bob Abelman]

Good chemistry abounds in formulaic 'The Bikinis'

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 7/5/13

 

 

If you've seen the jukebox musical "The Marvelous Wonderettes," which was recently performed at the Beck Center for the Arts, then you've seen "The Bikinis," currently in production at Actors' Summit in Akron.

 

Both shows recycle Top-40 tunes from the recent past and interweave them with a skeletal storyline that is the flimsy hook on which the performance of each standard song is hung.   

 

Both shows target audiences old enough to have heard these songs on 45 rpm vinyl records and who are nostalgic enough to accept the plays' rose-colored, candy-coated reflections of the times in which those tunes were recorded.

 

In "The Marvelous Wonderettes," which opened off-Broadway in 2008, four female best friends provide the evening's entertainment at their 1958 senior prom and, later, at their 10-year reunion.  Between the four-part harmonies in period songs that include "Mr. Sandman," "Sincerely" and 31 others, we learn about Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy's dreams and aspirations.  

 

In "The Bikinis," which was written in 2010 by Ray Roderick, James Hindman and Joseph Baker, four female best friends form a girl group in the '60s and reunite in 1999 to help save the Jersey Shore trailer park where it all began.  Between the four-part harmonies in period songs that include "It's In His Kiss," "It's Raining Men" and 29 others, Jodi, Barbara, Annie and Karla offer a sentimental journey through 30 years of the American music scene. 

 

How sentimental? The entire Woodstock experience is captured in one song.  By Melanie (not  Joan Baez or Janis Joplin).  And the song, "Lay Down," was never performed at Woodstock.  The music of the Vietnam era is reduced to a sing-a-long of Bobby Darin's "Simple Song of Freedom."  

 

Although "The Bikinis" is familiar, formulaic and super schmaltzy, this Actors' Summit production under MaryJo Alexander's direction embraces these qualities without wincing and without apology, and offers up a superb production.  

 

This is due to the four wonderful performers and their tight on-stage band under Deborah Ingersoll's keyboard stewardship and with Mark Bussinger's beat and Brian DelBianco's bass. 

 

Paula Kline-Messner, Mary Anne Prevost, June Lang and Chanda Porter create distinctive and appealing personas backed up by singing voices custom-made for this type of performance.  Collectively, they beautifully navigate the harmonies these ageless classics require as well as the recognizable girl group choreography and corny banter they are handed.  When placed as the lead vocal, each of them nails their parts.  

 

Best of all, their on-stage chemistry allows the audience to buy into the pretense of them being best buds with a long history.  This is essential in order to get past the aspects of this jukebox musical that are not so easy to forgive and forget, and allow the music - which is the real star of the show - to take center stage. 

 

"The Bikinis" continues through July 21 at the Greystone Hall at 103 S. High Street, Akron.  For tickets, which range from $25-$30, call 330-374-7568 or visit www.actorssummit.org. 
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