Photos of rehearsal courtesy of Andi Jones Music & Productions.
Andi Jones Music & Productions will present Shout! The Mod Musical to bring back the “beautiful birds and smashing sounds that made England swing in the 60’s,” according to the announcement, at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre in Long Beach starting July 10 through the end of the month on July 26.
Mini skirts and white gogo boots were the name of the game in Shout! The Mod Musical, an off-Broadway hit about five women living in a 1960s London. Favorites by Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark and Lulu, with a few American favorites sprinkled throughout, are spun into the historic yarn of magazine covers, voiceovers and appalling advice from a Dear Abby figure to address and display the culture, politics and humanity of the decade.
Long Beach local and seasoned stage performer Tanya Times, one of the six women putting their very best go-go boot-clad foot forward, said she was more than proud of the cast.
“These six women are some of the most talented I’ve worked with in all my years of theater,” she told the Post. “It’s rare to get cast into a show where the all of the performers genuinely enjoy each other’s company, but that’s exactly what happened with Shout.”
She said despite the cast’s differences in age and background, they have become a family, united in their love of performing. Most individuals are on stage for every number, as the show is 90 minutes without an intermission.
“It’s come together beautifully and I’m looking forward to having a live audience in front of us,” Times said.
“We work in a very ‘grass-roots’ way,” Director Andi Jones said. “We find talent that we want to develop into the show, in the sense of infiltrating the script and score with those individual personalities and ideas.”
The show will feature the lead on The Queen Latifah Show with the nation’s number one show choir and Long Beach local SoundFX Zoe Preall, seasoned singer and director Andi Jones, dynamic voiceover actor and “melanin-challenged” member of the Las Vegas Black Gospel Theatre, Barbara Bond. It will also showcase local favorite, vocally talented comedian Jen Walquist and “stunning gal” Ginger Klee will take the stage to “Tell the Boys” that your “Boots are Made for Walkin’’ straight “Downtown” to the Ernest Borgnine Theatre.
Jones called this version of the musical “fresh, different, high-energy fun.”
“It’s not overdone,” said Jones. “People will love the energy and musicality of this show. It has really been selling itself, in a sense, because people trust the era enough to know that this will be a fun way, a pleasurable way to spend a few hours. We’ve added lots of little twists and turns surrounding the show, not in the show itself, but just enough before and after touches that the audience will have a very good time if they like this kind of music and if they go with us.”
According to the announcement, the entire cast is “Wishin’ and Hopin’” to see you there ‘cause we “Only Wanna be with You,” baby.
“The number one thing, of course, is for the audience to leave feeling as if they could not have spent their afternoon any better way,” said Jones. “There is limited time in life, and for the audience to choose the see us, out of anything and everything else there is to do in life, is a HUGE honor. We want to respect that.”
Guests are invited to come in full costume. See below for the full schedule:
- Friday, July 10 at 7:00PM
- Saturday, July 11 at 1:00PM
- Sunday, July 12 at 2:00PM
- Friday, July 17th at 7:00PM
- Sunday, July 18th at 1:00PM
- Friday, July 24 at 7:00PM
- Saturday, July 25 at 1:00PM
- Sunday, July 26 at 2:00PM
Shout! The Mod Musical will take place at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre at the Scottish Rite Event Center at 855 Elm Avenue. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students, seniors or military. To purchase tickets online via PayPal, click here. Will call, cash and credit cards will be accepted at the door. For more information, please call 562.881.6847.
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