North Central College seniors direct and stage “Shout! The Mod Musical,” a celebration of the swinging ‘60s.
Created by Phillip George and David Lowenstein and co-directed by senior musical theatre majors Aronzo Traylor II and Jesek West, “Shout!” is a musical time capsule in the form of a women’s magazine sprung to life.
Following the lives of five young women as they stomp through the best of the 1960s: the Beatles’ world domination, women’s liberation and the first comings of marijuana, “Shout!” explores the roles of feminism and how women are viewed in today’s society.
The five women in thigh-skimming dresses take relationship cues from Shout! Magazine’s resident columnist Gwendolyn Holmes, a middle-aged man whose advice is always, when in doubt, visit a beauty parlor. In his opinion, that is the ultimate solution to net you a man or keep the one you have happy.
The minimalistic stage is splashed with red, yellow, green, orange and blue to match the characters known only by their particular color.
“The set for ‘Shout!’ is pretty simplistic; I used acrylic paint and small shape models and also paper along with help from my professors and their resources,” says NCC senior studio art major and Set Designer Liz Havenga.
Ideas for the set of “Shout!” were formed over the summer says Havenga. However, bringing the set to life continues up until opening night, which was February 26.
“Shout!” features Petula Clark’s “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” and “Downtown”, Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man”, and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”. The entire cast sung their lyrics with ease and enthusiasm while giving personality to their characters.
Green Girl (Colleen DeRosa) is “a bit of a slut” in the show, and always throwing innuendos around.
Red Girl (Allyson Martens) is the youngest of the women with unfortunate eye frames and is the most hopeful character of the bunch.
Yellow Girl (Tina Naponelli) is the only American in the show who has travelled all the way to England in order to see Paul McCartney.
Orange Girl (Rachel Rodewald) is the only woman who is married, in her forties, and is starting to suspect that her husband is cheating on her.
Blue Girl (Ashlyn Seehafer) is gorgeous and wealthy, and while she can go on and on about how perfect her life is, she does face some questions regarding her sexuality.
Entering the latter years of the decade, the women begin questioning the peppy reprimands in the magazine’s pages. Domestic abuse and other horrors enter the picture, and soon the mini-dresses are shed in favor of jeans with fringed leather vests and floral print dresses. The ‘60s are now over, but the women’s’ liberation has only just begun.
