DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
"Beehive," the play featuring songs from the '60s, showcases talented singers with lots and lots of hair. Four of the seven singers are, from left, Sandy Tsukiyama de Olivera, Riya Davis, Bryna O'Neill and Tricia Marciel.
A mis-‘Beehive’-in musical
"Beehive": Continues through April 6, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays at Manoa Valley Theatre. Tickets are $35 ($30 for seniors and military, and $15 for ages 25 and under). Call 988-6131.
John Berger
jberger@starbulletin.comWanna write a hit musical? Here's the surefire formula: Pick 35 or 40 songs at random from a popular time period in the Rock Era -- the '50s, '60s, '70s, disco, whatever. Throw 'em together in no particular order, add as little plot and character development as possible, and be careful not to show too much respect to the songs or artists who originally performed them.
Want proof this formula can't miss? Check out Manoa Valley Theatre's production of "Beehive." The formula is such a draw that the run was extended even before the show opened last Wednesday.
If only "Beehive" did justice to the songs and the artists it purports to be honoring! As with MVT's 2001 production of "Smokey Joe's Cafe," which uses a variation of the same formula, it seems as though playwright Larry Gallagher, who cobbled "Beehive" together in 1985, believes that classic songs of love and heartbreak must be trashed as campy jokes or simply dismissed -- pretty much the way people over 30 felt about the songs back in the '60s.
Taken simply as light pop entertainment, the local cast is much better than Gallagher's script. The seven singers approach even the lamest bits with zest. The six-piece band, led by musical director Alethea Train on keyboards, is the heart and soul of the show, and is possibly the most impressive musical ensemble to be heard in any locally produced musical this season.
Train's sextet distinguishes itself with two songs that aren't listed in the playbill but which add credibility and substance. "Wipeout," featuring drummer Keoki Van Orden, provides time for a costume change in Act I, but is worth hearing on its own merits. The band's powerful instrumental rendition of "I Can't Turn You Loose" is one of the brightest moments in Act II.
The tech crew also give the show more than Gallagher's script deserves. Greg Howell (hair and makeup) and Athena Espania (costumes) share credit for making "Beehive" a parody of the fashions and hairstyles of the early to mid-'60s. Karen Archibald (set design), Cathie Anderson (lighting design) and Jason Taglianetti (sound design) create a series of attractive "venues" in which the best performances are staged.
The seven singers have good moments as well. Alison L.B. Maldonado delivers the first perfect number in the show with "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman," and displays her flair for comedy playing Diana Ross in a segment satirizing The Supremes, before reaffirming her vocal power and stage presence in an otherwise uneven tribute to Ike and Tina Turner.
Bryna O'Neill's beautifully shaded performance makes "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" one of Act II's most impressive moments.
Riya Davis does nicely with "Wishin' And Hopin' " and makes "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" a strong conclusion to Act I.
Davis is uneven as the star of the Aretha Franklin segment. Her rendition of "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" is too long and campy, but she redeems herself singing a relatively obscure Franklin tune, "Do Right Woman -- Do Right Man," in counterpoint to Sandy Tsukiyama de Olivera's glorious take on "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."
The show becomes a showcase for Patrice Scott as she does a long four-song segment featuring the music of Janis Joplin. Michelle Baltazar and Tricia Marciel are the other members of the talented septet.
The nadir is a segment trashing the four top teen queens of the early 1960s -- Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Brenda Lee, and Annette (who didn't use her last name, Funicello, in those days). Having Lee sing "I'm Sorry" to Gore is bad enough, but to have Annette pop up anachronistically pushing peanut butter (as she did as a commercial spokeswoman in the '80s) -- well, why not go all the way and have Francis (Marciel) suggest a slumber party at Howard Johnson's (where she was attacked in 1974)? It would be tacky, but so's this whole segment.
It's also odd to pretend that Ike and Turner's remake of "Proud Mary" wasn't sung as a duet by Ike and Tina, and to hear Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On" performed as if Sonny Bono didn't sing 50 percent of the original hit.
Anyone truly familiar with '60s pop music will find other oddities in "Beehive" as well. But then playwright Gallagher evidently rates Lesley Gore and Janis Joplin as the most important female vocalists of the beehive era, followed by Aretha Franklin, Ike and Tina Turner, and the Supremes. Alrighty, then!
Oldies fans who don't remember the original hits will certainly love "Beehive." It is the third such show MVT has presented in the past 18 months and with two extensions, more of the same seems certain to follow. Aspiring playwrights should take note.
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