Review: 'Beehive: The Sixties Musical' at Seven Angels

Pictured: From left, Samantha Rae Bass, Brittany Mulcahy, Erin West Reed, Chelsea Dacey and Amy Bentley Photo by Paul Roth

“You’ve got to make your own kind of music, sing your own special songs…”

Waterbury, CT - ‘Beehive The ‘60’s Musical….’ Sealed with a Kiss! opened this weekend at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury. ‘Beehive’ is a musical tribute to the women of the era; with two dozen timeless classics, the songs take the audience on a journey documenting the dramatic changes that America underwent during the turbulent 60s and 70s. It is a six woman ensemble musical featuring music from both of the iconic decades. The show is a ‘Stage Seven Community Theatre’ production, meaning that most of the cast members are up and coming community theatre actors.

Director/choreographer Foster Evans Reese, marking his first opportunity to direct at 7A, would call the show’s description above “fluff.” He writes in his director’s letter, “‘Beehive’ takes us through time: from women singing simple songs about everyday life, to women finally finding their voice and using if for their own empowerment.” Noting that the latter has become especially relevant in our current climate, the director states that it has been a pleasure to work with, learn from and enjoy the time spent with these talented ladies.

‘Beehive’ was created by Larry Gallagher. The music director for this production is Morgan Morse; he sat onstage with the three other musicians to conduct and play piano. Mark Ryan (‘Million Dollar Quartet’) got to appear back on the 7A stage on drums, Dan Kraszewski played bass and Jamie Sherwood wailed on the guitar. Some audience members sang along with the recorded music during intermission and the music director simply embraced it. While I thoroughly enjoyed the sixties music of the first act, I must admit that the second act numbers were my favorites.

The six supremely talented singing actresses in the cast made up a tight ensemble. This was despite the fact that, as Artistic Director Semina De Laurentis noted in her curtain speech, most of them were too young to actually remember these decades. Each character was named after the actress who played her. Because the choreography was done by Mr. Evans Reese, the ladies had to master a long list of entertaining dance numbers and their hard work was apparent. The various styles of dance brought us back in time and meshed perfectly with the particular song.

Amy Bentley, a member of SAG-AFTRA who earned her BA in Theatre Performance at WCSU, is a fine professional stage, screen and voice actress. Her wonderful singing voice was apparent in all of her numbers; she was a tower of strength for “You Don’t Own Me” and continued to shine in the second act with “Son of a Preacher Man.”

Twenty four year old Brittany Mulcahy makes her debut at 7A and has a powerful voice that is a pleasure to hear. This young actress appeared as Sandy in ‘Grease’ and Ali in ‘Mamma Mia,’ both with Landmark Community Theatre.

Chelsea Dacey, an American Musical and Dramatic Academy graduate, also makes her 7A debut. Ms. Dacey played Suzy Simpson in a similar show called ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’ with Castle Craig. She looked so cute in the various wigs that she wore in both decades.

Samantha Rae Bass showed off her most powerful voice in another 7A debut. I remembered her as Felicia in ‘Memphis’ and Effie in ‘Dreamgirls’ with Landmark. Ms. Bass managed to steal the show just a bit when she took on the personas of Diana Ross in the first act and the fabulous Tina Turner in the second.

Erin West Reed also sang her heart out as the narrator of the show, as well as the female icons Cher, Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. My favorite number was “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder.)” Kudos to this super talented community theatre veteran on an outstanding performance.

Patricia Paganucci returned to this stage to play a Beehive sister, a kind of backup singer with not enough stage time. When she was onstage, she looked and sounded amazing.

Costumes designed by Claire Gaudette were beautifully reminiscent of the two decades and the hair and wig design by Joel Silvestro topped everything off nicely. Oh, those sky-high beehive hairdos! Matt Martin worked his usual magic with the sound design and Daniel Husvar designed the silvery sixties set.

I saw WATR’s Tom Chute, who frequently appears on the 7A stage, this time in the audience at the well-attended Saturday evening performance. Ms. De Laurentis announced that this summer Seven Angels will be producing another community theatre musical, the fabulous ‘Seussical.’ 'Beehive' runs through January 28.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417