The Beatgirls' Birthday Bash
Circa Two, Circa Theatre, 1 Taranaki St, Waterfront, Wellington
23/09/2006 - 21/10/2006
Production Details
The Beatgirls are turning 10, they’re all grown up and it’s time to PARTY!
From Puerto Rico to Athens, Sydney to San Francisco, The Beatgirls have been taking their unique sense of fun and frivolity, frocks and fantasy to the world. But now they’re bringing it back home to celebrate their 10th Birthday where it all began. Don’t miss this opportunity to be at the Birthday Party of the Year with Wellington’s favourite girl group.
Consistent favourites at Circa Theatre, The Beatgirls have stolen the hearts of audiences and secured a devoted fan base – everyone from pre-schoolers to grandmothers! And in their very special Birthday Bash they will be singing everything from their signature 60’s girl-group songs through to chart topping hits of the 80’s. Sending ukuleles and polka dots flying as they sing and dance themselves through famous favourites from The Andrews Sisters to the Rolling Stones, Trini Lopez to Tammy Wynette.
The Beatgirls have been partying up a storm around New Zealand for 10 years. Leaving almost no stage un-touched from Kerikeri to the Bluff, they have also been guests on Good Morning, Breakfast, and Nightline. Entertainers for Dancing with the Stars, Battle of the Ballroom, Showcase, Dream Jobs and The Tribe. They have even gone live to 140 million people on the USA Today Show, filmed on-site at the Athens Olympic Stadium in 2004.
And they’ve been chosen out of bands from around the world to entertain Sports Illustrated at not 1 but 2 Olympic Games, to a stellar crowd from Mohamed Ali and Ian Thorpe to Chelsea Clinton and Evander Hollyfield.
Starring: Andrea Sanders, Carolyn McLaughlin, Christina Cusiel & Narelle Ahrens
Theatre , Music ,
Birthday girls keep up the beat
Review by Laurie Atkinson [Reproduced with permission of Fairfax Media] 25th Sep 2006
The four BeatGirls – Andrea Sanders, Carolyn McLaughlin, Christina Cusiel, and Narelle Ahrens – are back, as flamboyant as ever, for their tenth birthday celebrations.
Their energy and stamina are awe-inspiring as they sing, dance, and joke their way through song after song after song, starting in the 1940s and carrying on right through to the 90s interspersed with jokes, banter and snippets of historical background.
Their showbiz professionalism is polished to the highest degree and is not in question but the show is of near Wagnerian length and after a while the songs started to sound the same whether the BeatGirls were paying homage to Dusty Springfield or The Andrew Sisters.
They are not called the BeatGirls for nothing but a change of tempo or style from time to time wouldn’t have come amiss. Also some of their jokes, particularly about Helen, Peter and Don, fell flat and were met with hardly a titter.
However, where they are at their very best is when they combine their comedic skills with the spot-on timing of their choreography and singing. Their send-up of the 80s dance movies and TV serials (Dirty Dancing/Fame) is hilarious as just one dancer starts to get the steps and movements wrong and sets off a chain reaction that could lead to disaster but miraculously doesn’t.
Just as hilarious is the aggressive and revengeful choreography performed by three dancers who accompany the singer of My True Love but reveal her real intention which is to make mincemeat out of him. These two numbers are birthday presents indeed.
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