RANGELEY – A nostalgic nod to London’s Swinging Sixties takes to the stage at the Rangeley Friends of the Arts Lakeside Theater for an encore performance of SHOUT! The Mod Musical. This popular show will return to Rangeley for two evenings on Labor Day weekend.
In May, this amazing show entertained sell-out crowds. The encore performance will run Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. at the RFA Lakeside Theater.
The musical follows five young female subscribers to a fictional magazine called Shout! –“The magazine for the modern woman” – as they come of age during the liberating 1960s that made England swing. From cover to cover, Shout! unfolds like a musical magazine and travels in time through the decade, chronicling the dawn of liberation of women. The show is set in London between the early 1960s and 1970, and follows the lives of five women only known as: the Red Girl—Marie Hyfield, Green Girl—Brenda Honey Rogers, Blue Girl—Pam Ellis, Yellow Girl—Erin Smith and Orange Girl—Sue Downes-Borko who all face tough situations, usually involving relationships. Throughout the story, all five women send letters to Gwendolyn Holmes—Joanne Dunlap, who works for the magazine “Shout!” in an advice column and gives them advice on how to deal with said issues.
The Yellow girl is the only American character in the show, who traveled all the way to Britain in order to see Paul McCartney. The Orange woman is shown as a full grown woman who is married and in her forties. The Blue girl is gorgeous and wealthy, and while she can go on and on about how perfect her life is, she does face some questions regarding her future. The Green girl makes a shocking discovery about her secret desire: it’s just one man! Finally, the Red girl is the youngest and most hopeful character; she is a bit hopeless in the beginning, stating she is not good-looking like other girls, until the man of her dreams comes along.
Just as Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Cilla Black and Lulu were independent women with major careers, English (and indeed American!) women were redefining themselves in the face of changing attitudes about women. Shout! and its all-female cast reflects that change through the unforgettable music of the era.
Shout! contains show stopping new arrangements of classic pop anthems of the decade, including, “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”,“Downtown”, “Son of a Preacher Man”, “Goldfinger”, “I Only Wanna Be With You”, “To Sir With Love” and of course, the titular “Shout!”. The songs, and each girl’s own unfolding story, are tied together by hilarious sound bites from the period – from 60s advertisements for anything and everything – to lonely hearts letters answered by Shout! Magazine’s advice columnist, who thinks each girl’s problem can be solved with a “fetching new hairstyle and a new shade of lipstick”.
Although Shout! wears its heart on its sleeve, it also has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. The groovy blend of foot-stomping songs, eye-popping fashions, bouffant hairstyles, hilarious stories and mod musings, will make you want to throw your head back… and SHOUT!
Tickets ($15) are available at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce at 6 Park Road in downtown Rangeley for two performances on August 30 & 31 at 7 PM.
