{"id":24271,"date":"2021-09-27T18:45:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T01:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=24271"},"modified":"2021-10-11T15:05:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T22:05:18","slug":"shout-the-mod-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/shout-the-mod-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"Shout! The Mod Musical: a review by Victor Cordell"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jamie Gussman as “Yellow Girl,” Heather Mae Steffen as “Blue Girl,” Christina Bolognini as “Orange Girl,” Melissa Momboisse as “Red Girl” and Amanda Le Nguyen as “Green Girl.” All photos by Steve Stubbs.<\/p><\/div>\n

The \u201860s were a memorable decade of change.\u00a0 But years ending in zeros are rarely true inflection points.\u00a0 Many political historians point to President John F. Kennedy\u2019s assassination on November 22, 1963 as the inception of that decade.\u00a0 President Lyndon Johnson was able to enact his and Kennedy\u2019s agendas for civil rights and poverty into law; political parties were realigned with Southern Democrats shifting to Republican in rejection of civil rights advances; and the U.S. commitment to the Vietnam War swelled irreparably.\u00a0 Social historians note the impact that the Beatles had starting several weeks later.\u00a0 The ensuing British Invasion brought with it new music, lingo, hair styles, mores, and more.\u00a0 And the youth culture that began with Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll in the mid \u201850s exploded to become a dominant social and economic power.<\/p>\n

\u201cShout! The Mod Musical\u201d is a musical revue of the \u201860s shown through the experiences of five young adult women living in London, as conceived and curated by three American men (of course)!\u00a0 The songbook draws from tunes of the era, predominantly those popularized by English songbirds, especially Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark (\u201cWishin\u2019 and Hopin\u2019\u201d and \u201cDowntown\u201d for starters.)\u00a0\u00a0 The South Bay Musical Theatre cast brings strong voices, deft comedic skills, and great enthusiasm, resulting in a fine entertaining evening.\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect the significance or sophistication of Sondheim or Hammerstein, but for those old enough to remember, it\u2019s a frothy retreat into nostalgia.\u00a0 Younger people will get a slice of life snapshot of what it was like back in the day.<\/p>\n

The show lacks a story arc.\u00a0 Whatever narrative glue is largely provided by the women writing letters to an advice columnist at \u201cShout\u201d magazine, with spoken replies coming from the unseen columnist.\u00a0 The characters lack names but are identified by a particular color, which is dominant in the various outfits that each wears and relates to their behaviors.\u00a0 Orange, performed by Christina Bolognini, is domestic; Red, played by Melissa Momboisse, is a mess of youthful contradiction; Blue, portrayed by Heather Mae Steffen, is poised and beautiful \u2013 and she knows it; Green, rendered by Amanda Le Nguyen, is slutty; and Yellow, characterized by Jamie Gussman, is loud \u2013 and therefore, probably American!<\/p>\n

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Heather Mae Steffen as “Blue Girl,” Christina Bolognini as “Orange Girl,” Amanda Le Nguyen as “Green Girl,” Jamie Gussman as “Yellow Girl” and Melissa Momboisse as “Red Girl.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Essentially, the show is an amalgam of skits full of the expected tropes, with music that often ties to each mini-drama.\u00a0 Not all work, but most produce the desired laughter.\u00a0 In one, a Paul McCartney groupie, Gussman, repeatedly stalks her prey, and even combs his trash, coming away with \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 his broken comb.\u00a0 In another favorite, characters are silhouetted against a back screen with Le Nguyen appearing as James Bond in \u201cColdfinger,\u201d a takeoff on \u2013 well, you get it.\u00a0 One recurring pastiche is several scenes that borrow directly from \u201cRowan & Martin\u2019s Laugh In,\u201d with music, action, and lights coming to a stop except for one spotlighted character who delivers a funny bit.<\/p>\n

Several pantomimes, also spotlighted against an otherwise dark stage, work nicely.\u00a0 My favorite is Steffen\u2019s reacting with increasing dejection to a disembodied man\u2019s deep voice telling her how her skin is being ravaged by age.\u00a0 But in the end, she blossoms with hope and glee when the speaker offers the solution of purchasing his skin cream product.\u00a0 Of course, much of the advice given is tongue-in-cheek.\u00a0 An example is the reply to Momboisse\u2019s sad but funny letter in which she declares herself ugly.\u00a0 The response is that there are things that are worse than being ugly \u2013 like being French.<\/p>\n

The performers are quite convincing with their English accents, and overall have strong mid-range singing voices.\u00a0 As the performance proceeded, I found myself changing my mind on which artist had the best voice, which is a good thing.\u00a0 I might go with Bolognini.\u00a0 While the songs were well sung, raising the keys on some of them would have created more brightness and urgency in their voices, but perhaps the tradeoff would be a loss of power.\u00a0 Otherwise, they do a pretty resolute job within the limits of the material.<\/p>\n

The creatives play a large role in the success of the production.\u00a0 Lee Ann Payne not only directs with a lively touch but choreographs a ton of movement and the dances of the day like the twist and the frug.\u00a0 Debra Lambert\u2019s masterly musical and vocal direction includes harmony arrangements of the many ensembles as well as conducting and playing keyboards.\u00a0 Also, Y. Sharon Peng captures the period look of hair, makeup, and costumes, though more of the daring signature looks of Carnaby Street and Vidal Sassoon would work nicely.<\/p>\n

\u201cShout! The Mod Musical,\u201d created by Phillip George, David Lowenstein, and Peter Charles Morris with music written by numerous composers and produced by South Bay Musical Theatre, plays at Saratoga Civic Center, 13777 Fruitvale Ave., Saratoga, CA through October 16, 2021.<\/p>\n

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The \u201860s were a memorable decade of change.\u00a0 But years ending in zeros are rarely true inflection points.\u00a0 Many political historians point to President John F. Kennedy\u2019s assassination on November…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[664],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-victor-cordell"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"