Saturday, January 08, 2005

Taffetas Review in RMN

"The Taffetas is a confection of '50s tunes so sugared you can skip the Equal in your coffee. Four girls straight out of Muncie, Ind., are making their TV debut, singing songs so gentle they should provide cots in the top tier."

"This production shares a few elements with a 2002 rendition at the Aurora Fox, in performers Kristin Hathaway and Michelle Paul and musical director Mary Gottlieb. But it stands alone in the stunning abbreviation. Two acts, with an intermission, amount to only 70 minutes of performance time. Directed and choreographed by Nicholas Sugar, the four women - rounded out with Anita Boland and Sarah Rex - are given decent staging, and all have fine voices. But the editing leaves them with indistinct characterizations and only the barest fragments of a story. The result is a concert with a soft-soap three-piece band, consisting of songs such as Mr. Sandman, I'm Sorry and, a personal favorite, You Belong to Me."

"Things perk up in the second act, but with the cartoon-docile smiles frozen on their faces and harmonies without texture or depth, this nostalgia trip will appeal most to those who miss the days when TV didn't have all those confusing colors, politicians wearing military uniforms were actually in the military and a woman's place was anywhere her man told her to be."

"Rex marks the evening's shining glory, singing with real passion and a voice of power and clarity - it's not particularly of the period, but its proficiency is welcome here."

"The food was fabulous, but the music? Well, it had me humming The Ramones all the way home."