Baby It's You
The decade between the late 1950s through the late ‘60s is for some of us is a distant, but pleasurable, memory. For others it was a time of intellectual, moral and emotional growth – for me, graduation from high school, a stint in the U.S. Navy, followed by a university degree, beginnings of a career and an intense interest in politics until Bobby Kennedy was murdered.
But all was not well for some of us at that time of Eisenhower complacency and McCarthy machinations. Women, African-Americans, Latinos, Catholics, Gays, all had troubles with the dominate culture. But one thing we could mostly agree on was…the music! It was a time when the black sub-culture began to seriously influence American musical tastes. When “girl” groups could do extremely well at the jukebox and in person.
Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux’ new musical, debuting at the Pasadena Playhouse, attempts to put that time-period, from 1958-65 into a perspective. The play explores the a musical progression that apes the time-frame of the terrific new film, PIRATE RADIO, but from the East Coast of the U.S.A.
In their story, a New Jersey-based Jewish housewife (Meeghan Holaway), with two grown kids and a patronizing husband, goes out on her own with a new girl-group who attended high school with her own daughter, the Shirelles, and made them into a striking trio with great voices and a new sound. It’s their up-and-downs, along with her sinking relationship with her husband (Barry Pearl), and a new, forbidden, relationship with a black songwriter, Luther Dixon (Allan Louis), that illustrate the landscape of alternative America at that time.
Using a real disk-jockey of time, Jocko (Gene Henderson), the production team have their actors singing thirty-nine songs of the era, from MISTER LEE to YAKETY YAK to SOLDIER BOY to TWIST AND SHOUT, to I SAY A LITTLE PRAYER (FOR YOU), which is the main problem with their superbly presented show: too much music and not enough plot.
“Jukebox” musicals tend to let the music speak for itself, when what is needed is context: for whom where they written, why did they succeed and (generally) fail, what is it about popular music that is so easily written off as puerile and unimaginative? This musical, BABY IT’S YOU is entertaining, informative, fun and emotionally an empty hole. The deeper reasons for Flo Greeenberg’s actions in finding some talented kids and managing them are unexplored due to time-constraints -- it’s the music, baby! And unlike in the recent JERSEY BOYS, the personal stories are not grabbers. Director Mutrux does a bang-up job of staging the songs, with able assist from choreographer Birgitte Mutrux, and the singers are all above average. But having the songs of outside singers, such as Leslie Gore’s IT’S MY PARTY or Ron Isley’s SHOUT or Gene Chandler’s DUKE OF EARL – all great songs of the time – add to an already over-stocked musical menu. They do give more framework to what Flo and Luther’s business are accomplishing, but at the expense of aforementioned emotional core.
Standouts clearly point to the arranger and band-leader (and actor) Adam Irizarry, singers Erica Ash, Berlando Drake, Paulette Ivory, Ms. Holaway, Mr. Louis, and Geno Henderson. The technical support of costumes (Lizz Wolf), lighting (Howell Binkley), Sound (Martin Carrillo), sets (Anna Louizos) are all excellent, adding to the fun.
This production should be seen, but it’s not ready for Broadway just yet. It’s book needs a strong re-think, but they’re close. As such, the evening is entertaining and definitely encourages audience participation: war-babies and baby-boomers will be taken back to another time and their children and (gasp!) grandchildren will have a clearer idea of what their forbearers were dancing to. And we get to enjoy it all over again.