The time is 1963 and Betty Belarosky is graduating from high school. She is listening to the radio and hears “All the Kids” from one of her favorite artists. Kennedy Jazz confidently plays LoveJones who, along with the ensemble, opens this musical. The time stamp is instant and recognizable. The lyric is “doo wop, shoo wop, quack, quack” followed by “all the kids are doin’ it.” The duck-like dance moves are fun, the lyrics appropriately silly and Betty and the Belrays swivels and shakes with a very promising start.
Director William Electric Black wrote the book and lyrics for this show which was performed in this same theater in 2007. Given our uneasy historical and now elevated racial anxiety as a nation, this revisit is well-timed. Betty is a young white lady who has just graduated from high school. Her parents (John Michael Hersey and Gretchen Poole) want her to get a job. She loves to listen to the Negro radio station in her very segregated town. After meeting two young ladies on the line for a phone company job, a plan is hatched. They are going to form a girl group and get signed to the all-black owned and operated Soul Town Records.
Betty’s pals are Zipgun (Alexandra Welch), a reform school tomboyish dunderhead, and Connie Anderson (Kalia Lay) who reminded me of Marty Maraschino in Grease. Ms. Lay’s crying scene while waiting for a job interview was hilarious for its variety and length. Ms. Welch created an amusing and convincing physical portrait of the switchblade tough gal but is saddled with some odd clunkers. There is no television in her home so “life really blows without a yabba, dabba doo.” Paulina Breeze nails Betty’s naivete and the wide-eyed optimism of youth. That’s vital because the civil rights movement is the serious topic of this show.
On the other side of town, LoveJones lives with her mother Loretta who takes in ironing and also teaches singing. A musical high point, “Lord, Lord, Lord” is Loretta’s lesson that you “gotta go to church to sing soul music.” A recent graduate of NYU, Aigner Mizzelle’s performance is nicely sung. With a mature, fully realized characterization this show gets the thematic depth needed. Her words, eyes and body language reflect both the weariness of life and the hope for a better future.
All the featured roles in this production double as ensemble members in the frequent and enjoyable group numbers. Finely directed, everyone slips into chorus mode and you’d never guess they just had a big scene moments before. The songs in this musical are stylistically faithful to the period which is good and bad. Since there are so many repetitive refrains, they occasionally overstay their welcome. Co-composer Valerie Ghent (Deborah Harry’s world tour keyboardist!) and Musical Director Gary Schreiner created a score which effectively captures the era. The tunes slide effortlessly between girl group doo wop and richer fare such as the delicious “Soul Stew.”
1963 was a pivotal time in America. Gone were carhops and The Donna Reed Show to be replaced by the assassination of JFK and the ascent of Martin Luther King, Jr. Betty and the Belrays finds a nice angle to gently and effectively comment on that period from the perspective of the young. This consideration of recent American history would make a fine choice for high school productions in integrated cities and towns. A good musical with messaging to help further the conversation and progress toward racial equality.