"Sixties Kicks" bets on the music of an era, and wins
By Christian Carvajal
June 23, 2010
Properly speaking, Harlequin Productions' Sixties Kicks isn't musical
theater, it's a concert. Five talented young people backed by a
killer five-piece rock band sing 37 hits of the 1960s. I'm not a
music critic, but I don't have to be Lester Bangs to give a thumbs-up
to the source material.
In a conversation with Scot Whitney, director Linda Whitney's husband
and partner, I learned that the vagaries of intellectual property law
permit the compilation of such a concert, assuming proper ASCAP fees
have been paid, but deny the addition of dialogue. No problem. All we
need to know about the era was either flashed on a video screen or
pre-inscribed in our collective historical memory. Unlike the cast,
I was born in the '60s, and I remember these tunes blasting from the
AM radio in my parents' Malibu station wagon. Sixties Kicks is the
soundtrack of my early childhood.
The cast and band are rock solid. Brad Schrandt, for example, plays
keyboards, flute and saxophone, all in the same act. Alison Monda is
fully committed as usual, roaring through "Magic Bus" and "House of
the Rising Sun." Monda's fiancé Matthew Posner works his Daltrey
chops on "Won't Get Fooled Again" - and his Act II costume makes him
look unnervingly like '70s icon Freddie Prinze. (Note to Gen-Y
readers: I'm referring to Freddie Prinze Jr.'s father, a comedian
who starred on a sitcom called Chico and the Man.) Fellow Oklahoman
Kate Dinsmore has a knack for hippie ballads. (Note to Linda
Whitney: Why in the Haight didn't you give Dinsmore a Nancy Sinatra
number in Act I?) But the emotional highlight of the show, for me
and other Lennon-McCartney idolaters, is Antonia Darlene's gospel
rendition of "Let It Be." I wiped away tears.
Then there's Mike Lengel, with whom I had issues throughout Act
I. He's an odd physical match for the rest of the cast, he's a
less-than-terrific dancer and his "Light My Fire" had all the uncaged
hypersexuality of a 2008 Chevy Aveo. But he finally won me over with
two reverential Dylan numbers and all was forgiven. His clear high
end and falsetto are well-suited to the Bard of Duluth. Lengel led
the cast in a rousing "Revolution" to close the show, not the first
time patrons danced in the aisles. I wish the band were in '60s
apparel, and I'm not sure each song was matched with the right
singer, but Sixties Kicks is polished (with a shit-ton of solid
choreography, courtesy of Nikki Womac), colorful, and happy-making.
Let it be, indeed.
A protracted, woefully ill-advised war. Minorities striving for equal
rights, including the right to marry for love. Economic uncertainty,
coupled with rampant mistrust of government. Sound familiar? When we
think of the 1960s, we're mindful of social strife, absolutely, but
inspired by a song list that colors all that discord with idealistic
passion. So tell me, hipsters of 2010, where the hell are all your
unforgettable protest songs? Where's your musical outrage? Are you
too busy downloading "California Gurls" onto your iPod? I tried like
hell to list 37 songs from the last decade that would merit a
compilation like Sixties Kicks; you should, too. You might find the
exercise both enlightening and discouraging. If a Gulf-choking oil
spill can't inspire a classic protest song, God help us all.
--
Sixties Kicks
through July 18, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $34-$37,
Harlequin Productions, 204 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia
360.786.0151, harlequinproductions.org
.
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