Stage West's musical Beehive: The 60s Musical is pure nostalgia as it takes its audiences through the 1960s. The final song of the evening is Cass Elliot's Make Your Own Kind of Music, which sets the theme for the show as six women use the songs that defined each year to take the audience on a journey.
Opening with Teenybopper Hits
The opening features teenybopper songs that told young girls that even if a boy was a rotter, he was better than no boy. This includes Lesley Gore's It's My Party, the Chiffons' Sweet Talking Guy, and two Supremes' songs Where Did Our Love Go? and Come See About Me. There are also wishful songs like The Ronettes' Walking in the Rain, which assures the girl that the perfect boy is somewhere out there.
Growing Stronger
Eventually, the girls get stronger with The Angels' My Boyfriend's Back and The Crystals' Then He Kissed Me, while Lesley Gore tries to redeem herself with You Don't Own Me. Diana Del Rosario takes the whiny Connie Francis song Where the Boys Are and turns it into a female anthem, rattling the roof of the dinner theatre.
Musical Direction
Musical director Konrad Pluta doesn't try to recreate the original sound but gives the songs his own take, which works effectively. The approach adds freshness to the familiar tunes.
Heavier Themes
Things get heavier when Sarah Horsman sings the Shirelles' ballad Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, about a young girl having given her virginity the previous night. It, and The Chiffons' One Fine Day, move past bubblegum-style lyrics into heavier themes. The message becomes even more serious with Dion's Abraham, Martin and John, which the women use to recall the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the memory of young men lost in Vietnam. This interlude works effectively, with video screens complementing the songs poignantly. The singers wear trench coats, a contrast to the garish 60s outfits designed by Raili Boe for most of the first half.
Emancipation and Control
The women let their hair down to introduce Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man and Lulu's To Sir With Love, songs where the women are much more in control. This emancipation leads to Tina Turner's Proud Mary and River Deep Mountain High. Director Troy Goldthorp finally uses the talented Dallas Hayes-Sparks but insists on her sharing the songs, which makes no sense.
Powerful Performances
Beatrice Rene-Decarie, April Cook, Moulan Rourke, Dallas Hayes-Sparks, and Sarah Horsman, as a group, give Carole King's Aretha Franklin hit (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman real energy, signalling it's time to showcase someone like Janis Joplin. Horsman sings Cry Baby, Try Just a Little Bit Harder, and Me and Bobby McGee. Aretha Franklin closes the decade with Moulan Bourke and Del Rosario singing Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You, putting her in control.
Overall Impact
Beehive may be a slight musical but it is not trivial. It has a good deal to say about changing attitudes towards women in those 10 years. For those who grew up in that era, the show is a real sing-along blast. For those born later, listening to the talented sextet is the thrill, as is being introduced to these songs.
Production Elements
Choreographer Greg Pember gives the singers all the right moves, and lighting designer David Smith knows how to feature them. Jeff Fafard, Carl Janzen, and Jeremy Coates shine as the onstage band, with Fafard stepping into the action for a couple of numbers.
Beehive: The 60s Musical runs at Stage West until Aug. 30.
