WINTER PARK — With the recent Arctic blast that brought snow to the Florida Panhandle and a week of frigid temperatures to Central Florida, the idea of spending an afternoon at a sunny beach sounds mighty inviting — particularly if it’s a beach inside the warm, well heated Winter Park Playhouse.
The Playhouse is kicking off the new year with a musical billed as a true Beach Party, and the show The Bikinis is truly both sand-sational and Sun-believable! We join the all-girls singing group the Bikinis and how they first came together on the Jersey Shore boardwalk in the early 1960s. Now it’s decades later and they’re getting back together, but not before recounting how they set out to wow the musical world.
All I can say is, it Shore is nice to watch them!
It’s easy to sum up this show’s virtues, from the sweet, gentle humor to the walk down memory lane with those fab sixties songs (“Heat Wave,” “These Boots Are Made For Walking”) that will have you snapping your fingers and tapping your feet. But the show’s greatest attribute is a knockout cast who deliver some soaring harmonies and mesmerizing vocals that feel like you’ve arrived at paradise.
And not just in their vocal talent, but expert skill at humor as well. When the Bikinis do their version of “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” it’s a pure comedic delight.
The Bikinis opened on Friday and is being performed at the Winter Park Playhouse through Feb. 22. This is one trip to the beach you don’t want to miss.
What Is the Musical The Bikinis?
The Bikinis A New Musical Beach Party was created and written by Ray Roderick & James Hindman, and, as they like to point out, was based on a true story about a girl group from the sixties that got back together again decades later to sing those golden oldies on the Jersey Shore boardwalk. The reunion was for a good cause: to raise money for the residents of the Sandy Shores Mobile Home Beach Resort.
That reunion quickly takes us back to the summer of 1964, when four inseparable friends got their name and reputation by winning the Belmar Beach Talent Contest. Jodi and Annie are sisters from Paramus, N.J., Karla is their first cousin from Philly, and best friend Barbara is from Staten Island. Their goal is to get on Bandstand, but first they need to record a single, and that costs $872 — a lot of money in 1964. How they did that forms the basis of this clever story.
Along the way, the girls sing familiar sixties hits (“It’s In His Kiss,” “Under The Boardwalk”) that they first performed on the boardwalk in 1964. But as we find out, the innocence of the early 1960s will eventually give way to far more complex times ahead.
How is The Winter Park Playhouse Show?
For a delightful afternoon, the Playhouse’s fabulous cast creates a literal tidal wave of fun as they shift into the psychedelic late sixties, performing some cool hippie songs (“Time Of The Season,” “Incense And Peppermints”) while trying to make it to Woodstock (their parents refuse! Ouch!) and learn a thing or two about love and romance. Erika Amato and Katrina Johnson as sisters Jodi and Annie, Rebecca Jo Lightfoot as Karla and Tonya Phillips Staples as Barbara fit the musical theater definition of perfect casting, and each one manages to create a distinct character with their own recognizable personality.
And they shore do have a great time in this show! They really seas the day, nyuck nyuck.
The show has its share of poignant moments, as the girls squabble, make up, bond and eventually realize they were made to sing together. Director Desiree Montes keeps things lively and has a great feel for that sixties nostalgia buzz; by the time the Bikinis progress to the disco era and perform sizzling renditions of “I Will Survive” and “Last Dance,” you start to wish the Bikinis were a permanent fixture at Orlando’s Kia Center. Take my word for it: this is a true Sea-esta of a show.
Where Can I See The Bikinis?
The Bikinis is being performed at Winter Park Playhouse, 711 Orange Ave. in Winter Park, through Feb. 22. The show runs for 2 hours, with a 15 minute intermission.
Ticket prices are $47 for evening shows and $45 for seniors, $42 for matinees, and $20 for students ages 15-25, members of the active military and theatrical industry professionals. Student rush “$10@10” offers $10 tickets (for students ages 15 to 25) will be available 10 minutes prior to a performance when seats are available.
For more tickets and information call the box office at 407-645-0145 or visit online at www.winterparkplayhouse.org .
Michael Freeman is an Orlando journalist, playwright, and author of the book A Christmas Eve Story. Contact him at Freelineorlando@gmail.com.
Freeline Media accepts opinion columns — ones that are polite, civil, and done with insight and good taste — from all points of view, all ideologies, all political parties and concerns. Contact us today at FreelineOrlando@gmail.com if you’d like to share your views and opinions with Freeline Media and our readers.
