The musical comedy "The Marvelous Wonderettes" has been called " irresistible" by the New York Times and it seems like another step in the right direction for the Square One Players of Shrewsbury, which will be putting on its seventh show and third musical since being founded in 2021.
The Square One Players production of "The Marvelous Wonderettes" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 3, 2 p.m. Aug. 4, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10, and 2 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Flanagan Theater at Southgate at Shrewsbury . The Aug. 4 and 11 performances have already sold out.
"We know we did good picking this show," said Square On Players co-founder, co-owner and co-operator Joanne Smith.
It's the 1958 senior prom at Springfield High School in 1958, and The Marvelous Wonderettes singing team of Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy step in to perform for their classmates as a last minute replacement after the Crooning Crab Cakes from the glee club ran into some trouble.
So begins the "The Marvelous Wonderettes," a 2008 off-Broadway smash with such classic 1950s hits as “Lollipop,” “Stupid Cupid” and “ Lipstick on Your Collar," and some drama among the four young women. In the second act the show steps forward 10 years to 1968, when Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy take the stage together again at their high school reunion. Their lives have changed but they still have each other as friends. Some of the numbers get more soulful with songs including "Rescue Me" and "RESPECT." Roger Bean created the show and wrote the book for the musical.
'A love letter to our audience'
Stephanie Sarkisian, who has been seen in two previous Square One Players productions, plays Betty Jean, and three newcomers to the theater company make debuts — Amanda Lanza as Cindy Lou, Mallory Wray as Missy, and Meg Masciangioli as Suzy. Jeremy Woloski directs, the music director is Lisa Utzig with a four-piece band, and the show's choreography is by Kelley Manson.
"This show is like a love letter to our audience," Smith said. "The music will forever endure because it's just so much fun to listen to."
Square One Players audiences tend to be older, although "it's not that we don't have younger people, we do." she said. Regardless, "I'm a total '80s girl, but I also grew up with the '50s and '60s (that was played by her parents). I would listen to that music all the time. I know all the songs."
And "The Marvelous Wonderettes" broke through on off-Broadway 50 years on from when the show is first set.
The musical has audience interaction and involvement ,including having ballots in the programs to vote for Prom Queen in the first act.
Still, the production is no walkover for the cast.
"It's a tougher show than we anticipated. There are over 30 songs and they (the cast) all have to know all of them. Typically, a musical has 20 songs and the leads don't have to know them all," Smith noted. Besides learning the songs, each cast member has to know the step for the songs, plus any dialogue in between.
"They're working hard," Smith said. Plus there are hair styles and costumes to pay attention to.
Another good sign, however, has been residents of Southgate at Shrewsbury, a senior retirement community, stopping into the Flanagan Theater during rehearsals and "singing along," Smith said.
'We'll have them clapping and singing'
Square One Players emerged after the Regatta Players, which had had been putting on shows at the Flanagan Theater since 2010 and had been a needed theater outlet in Shrewsbury, shut down in 2020. The Regatta Players had been planning a production of Joe DiPietro's comedy "Over the River and Through the Woods" that would have opened March 20, 2020, but was canceled because of the sudden onset of the pandemic. Smith, Tara Alano and Tara Lamoureux (at the time Tara Wykes) had all been involved with the Regatta Players, mostly behind the scenes, and had also served on its board. They were part of the team that was going to put on "Over the River and Through the Woods." The three agreed to not only go ahead with "Over the River and Through the Woods" in the summer of 2021, they also formed the Square One Players.
The theater company has gone on to stage two shows a year, usually a comedy in the spring and a musical in the summer, all at the Flanagan Theater, where Southgate at Shrewsbury has always been very welcoming, Smith said. Last year's musical was "Spamalot," Eric Idle's King Arthur spoof.
"'Spamalot' was huge. We sold out shows. People love the show," Smith said.
This spring Square One Players put on the comedy-drama "Steel Magnolias."
"The actresses were fabulous. People said, 'I didn't know I was going to cry so much,'" Smith said. "We'll have them clapping and singing this summer."
Woloski, a veteran theater director and teacher, has become the Square One Players in-house director. "He's very easy to work with. We share the same ideas," Smith said.
The Square One Players are pleased to see new people showing up for auditions. "It's not that we don’t love all the cast members from previous shows, but it’s so nice to welcome new people into our productions," Smith said. In "The Marvelous Wonderettes" show "we have three new people so they can share their talents. There are a lot of talented people out there."
Lamoureux has recently married and stepped back from her involvement with the Square One Players although "she still helps us," Smith said. So it is now Smith and Alano running the operation.
"One show basically supports the next," Smith said. Ticket prices are more than reasonable at $20 ($17 students and seniors).
Plans for 2025 are already being made. The summer musical is not yet ready to be announced, but Smith has a good idea what it will be. The spring comedy will be Ken Ludwig's "Moon Over Buffalo." Auditions will be held Dec. 16 and 18.
'The Marvelous Wonderettes '
When: 7:30 p.m. Aug 3 and 10; 2 p.m. Aug. 4 (sold out) and 11 (sold out)
Where: Flanagan Theater, Southgate at Shrewsbury, 30 Julio Drive, Shrewsbury
How much: $20; $17 students and seniors. squareoneplayers.com
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Marvelous Wonderettes' is irresistible for Square One Players of Shrewsbury
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