The Marvelous Wonderettes takes its audience back to 1958 at the Springfield High School prom.
Music lovers can take a trip down memory lane to the glory days of bobby sox and blue jeans and mini skirts when the off-Broadway hit musical “The Marvelous Wonderettes” makes its way to CityStage for four shows beginning Wednesday.The Marvelous Wonderettes takes its audience back to 1958 at the Springfield High School prom where they will meet the Wonderettes, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts.
The show uses music from the 1950s and ‘60s to tell its story as the girls perform such classics as “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” “It’s My Party,” and over 20 other classic hits.
As the lights come up on the prom’s special entertainment, The Marvelous Wonderettes, the four best friends – Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy – launch into the “Sugar & Spice Medley: Lollipop/Sugartime.” The girls, who are also the trophy-winning varsity song leaders for Springfield High, are the replacement act for the prom’s originally scheduled group, the Crooning Crabcakes. Billy Ray Patton, the lead Crab, got suspended from school for smoking.
The second half of the show springs forward to a decade later at the Springfield High School Class of ‘58 10-Year Reunion, as the Marvelous Wonderettes take the stage to begin their performance with “Heatwave.” During the reunion, the audience learns about each girl and the different roads they’ve traveled since graduation.
Ashley Pankow plays Betty Jean in the play who she described as the “class clown, the tomboy of the group, who will punch anyone who makes fun of her friends….she’s always up for trouble.”
Pankow said after traveling to many cities with the show, most people didn’t really know what kind of show they were coming to.
“Many think this is just some sort of girl group musical revue. But it’s much more than that. The girls each have their own distinct personalities and there’s a lot of back story about their relationships,” said the performer.
More than just a musical, the show is also about nostalgia, noted Pankow.
“We talk to people after the show and many tell us their cool stories about their own proms. And, it’s interesting, depending on what generation they’re from, some may get the ‘50s jokes and puns in the show, but not those from the ‘60s decade,” said Pankow.
Unlike Betty Jean, Pankow grew up on the music of the sixties, more so than the fifities.
“I just love the innocence that these girls have. And it’s really cool to see them grown up in the second half of the show and to learn how they have been dealing with life,” said Pankow.
Oh, and the audience gets to vote for prom queen.