Beck Center Opens With The Marvelous Wonderettes

will open its 2011-12 season with the off- Broadway production of The Marvelous Wonderettes on Sept. 16.

The show — reviewed as a “cotton-candy colored, nonstop pop musical blast from the past” — will run through Oct. 16.

“It’s what we call a jukebox musical,” Scott Spence, the Beck’s artistic director said. “In this show, it’s all hits from the 50s and 60s.”

Act I takes place on prom night in 1958 during which the musical’s four female characters are suddenly asked to become the evening’s
entertainment.

“They do a whole evening “or, rather, “a whole act full” of 1950s music,” Spence said. And “each of the girls, of course, has their own distinct personality.”

Then, in Act II, the girls reconvene for their 10-year reunion in 1968.

“So they do 60s music in Act II,” Spence said, adding that The Marvelous Wonderettes is “in the great tradition of shows such as Beehive, Forever Plaid and so on.”

Some of the songs included in the production are Lollipop, Dream Lover, Stupid Cupid, Lipstic On Your Collar, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and It’s My Party.

Show times are 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays, except for Sept. 18. Also, there is a 3 p.m. matinee performance on Oct. 15.

Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors, $17 for students and $10 for children (12 years old and younger). An additional $3 service fee per ticket is applied at the time of purchase.

They are available for purchase online at beckcenter.org or by calling
216-521-2540, ext. 10.