The Bikinis Photo by Diane Sobolewski
Believe it or not, the
scantily designed swimwear that dangles in two pieces on women and resembles
abbreviated underwear was named for the site of a nuclear weapons test site,
the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Conceived by French engineer Louis Reard in 1946, it has become heralded
as one of the most popular female beachwear ensembles, an $811 million industry
annually.
Now it is being reincarnated
in an entirely new fashion statement thanks to co-writers Ray Roderick and
James Hindman and composer and musical arranger Joe Baker as a beach party
musical “The Bikinis.” Goodspeed’s
Norma Terris Theatre in Chester will be putting down the plaid blankets and
rubbing on the suntan lotion from today until Sunday, September 9.
You’ve made good friends with
the “Jersey Boys,” but now it’s time to make room on stage for the Jersey
Girls. In 1964, four B.F. F.’s
(best friends forever) on a lark enter a talent contest wearing (you guessed
it) bikinis and win the Belmar Beach boardwalk banners. Two teenage sisters from Paramus, Jodi (Lori Hammel) and Annie (Meghan
Duffy), join forces with their impetuous cousin Karla (Karyn Quackenbush) from
Philadelphia and their best bud Barbara (Regina La Vert) from Staten Island to
make their summer fun memorable and you’re invited along for the roller coaster
ride.
With a parade of forty
favorite tunes like “It’s Raining Men,” “Dedicated to the One I Love,” “It’s in
His Kiss,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Under the Boardwalk” and “Chapel of Love” as
well as brand new songs like “In My Bikini” and “Sandy Shores,” you’ll find
yourself dancing in your seat and humming right along.
According to Ray Roderick,
who is busy juggling three hats for the show, as creator, choreographer and
director, “The show is about fun, females and friendship. It’s 75% songs we know and love and 25%
new material. It showcases women
in a positive way, written by men who love them.”
Calling it “a joyous party,”
Roderick finds it “an easy, breezy show where the women don’t stop. They are a talent pool that delivers
and has fun in the process.”
Stating that the musical’s title is a metaphor for the struggle for
equality women face, he feels they are empowered by it, even as they are still
vulnerable. The quartet of females
in the show relive their past but focus, decades later when they reunite, on
the here and now.
The great rock and roll music
of the 60’s and 70’s is wrapped around the original talent contest where the
goal of the girls was to get on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and fast
forward to their gathering when they meet to save the Sandy Shores Mobile Home
Beach Resort, a favorite landmark on the Jersey beach that is being threatened
by a land developer who wants to take over and build condos.
Back in 2007, at the Briny
Breezes Trailer Park in Florida, the owners were each offered a million dollars
to move and “The Bikinis” is loosely based on that true story. In addition, it touches on the innocent
fun of that era as well as the Vietnam War, the Woodstock event, flower
children and the rise of women’s voices.
“The Bikinis” is “a coming of age story that views the world through
their eyes.”
For tickets ($48), call
Goodspeed Musicals at 860-873-8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m.
and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and
8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The show will take place at
the Norma Terris Theatre, 33 North Main Street, Chester (exit 6 off route 9),
where new musicals are workshopped and showcased in a process Ray Roderick
calls “amazing and so unbelievably supportive.”
Come rediscover the great
songs of the 60’s and70’s as this one hit wonder girls’ group reunites as
women. Come hear them roar.
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