The Marvelous Wonderettes, written and directed by Roger Bean, is a cute pastiche of well-known romantic songs from the 50's and 60's performed by four terrific Broadway singers, and for we older folks, it's a lot of fun hearing hits from our past sung so well. Act One is the High School Prom in 1958, and Act Two is ten years later.
Unfortunately, in Act One, director Bean and choreographer Janet Miller give us caricatures in the flimsy plot and try hard to be funny instead of recreating the real flavor of the time. That forced clumsiness cuts into the enjoyment of the really good singing of great old tunes. Act Two is more of a straight concert, and, aside from the awful costumes by Bobby Pearce (trying to be funny and not succeeding), it's worth the visit. Set by Michael Carnahan and lighting by Jeremy Pivnick are quite effective. Farah Alvin (an Alice Ghostley), Beth Malone (a feisty June Allyson), Bets Malone (a Betty Hutton) and Victoria Matlock (a Virginia O'Brien with a big smile) -- each gets to shine in solo turns, and all are indeed Marvelous.
