Being new to the capital, The BeatGirls were not a group I knew much about, but my theatre companion duly informs me they’re “a Wellington institution”.

And clearly they are – even Wellington Mayor Justin Lester took some time out of his Saturday night to celebrate their 21^st birthday.

The array of sparkly frocks suspended from the ceiling indicate we’re in for some fun and these sassy ladies definitely deliver the goods when it comes to iconic anthems from the 1940s through to the 1990s. [More]

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Any review of The Beat Girls should by rights reverberate with as much energy as this show gives out. The first night of their birthday celebration season at Circa earns them a stampede of enthusiasm and appreciation.

Andrea Sanders, Kali Kopae and Carrie McLaughlin, as well as manager Billy Watkins – plus the many other Beat Girls who have graced the line-up – can feel justly proud of 21 years of theatrical accomplishment.

Brainchild of deviser and choreographer Sanders, the Beat Girls are well known in Wellington, having performed a record nine times in the capital. Their reputation is nationwide, and performances have also been given in America, Australia, the South Pacific, Athens and Hong Kong – and let’s not forget Eketahuna and Ruatoria.

Belting out ‘It’s not Unusual’ as an opening number, they treat us to the class, style and pizzazz that marks them out as anything but usual. Sanders introduces the narrative element of the show with the comment, “Twenty one years ago I wouldn’t have been so puffed,” but this is the only deference made to age. All three display remarkable precision and agility throughout a two hour show of varied, inventive and impeccable choreography.

We get a musical tour which includes the Andrews Sisters of the forties, through the era of The Beatles, with a particularly clever Bossanova style rendition of ‘Day Tripper’, then ABBA’s stirring ‘Fernando’ and climaxing in a gorgeously androgynous Glam Rock number.

It’s difficult to say what’s more stunning – the singing or the dancing. The group replaced their live band with a backing sound many years ago, but it’s no detraction. Their voices are as powerful as their bodies. Sanders’ extraordinary talent lies in creating choreographies that at times movingly recall the gyrations and gesticulations from the dance floors of each decade.

And there are costumes – and wigs – that match. The psychedelic jump suits so reminiscent of the seventies are made out of a bunch of shower curtains, an insider informs me. Hmm, enterprising too. 

There have been twenty nine Beat Girls over the years, and most of them make an appearance in the show by way of slides that enhance the narrative. Two appear in person – a youngster who wasn’t even born when The Beat Girls began – and an astonishing personage called Doreen whose exuberance brings the house down. 

‘Enough is Enough’ is a closing number, sung in duet by Beat Girls number one and twenty nine. 

No, it’s not enough – give us another twenty one years.  

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