THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: 67 lines
THE TAFFETAS are a four-girl group of singers who are meant to epitomize all those doo-wopping sisters of the 1950s - the McGuire Sisters, the Chordettes and soloists like Patti Page, Teresa Brewer, Eartha Kitt. With a string of 42 ultra-familiar and nostalgic songs, The Taffetas, impersonated by four local actress-singers, have taken up residence at the Founders Inn through March 14.
The result is a pleasant but not distinctive evening of tuneful memories or, if you're so terribly young, a realization that your parents' pop tunes were just as wacky as any contemporary contrivance. The songs themselves are the stars. Where else, other than scratched 45s from the attic, could you hear the likes of ``Mr. Sandman'' (vintage Chordettes), ``Sincerely'' (rewarmed McGuire Sisters) ``Tennessee Waltz,'' ``Allegheny Moon'' and ``Old Cape Cod'' (nods to Patti Page)? Throw in ``Johnny Angel,'' ``Puppy Love,'' ``Ragmop,'' ``Volare,'' ``I'm Sorry'' and add Connie Francis' immortal ``Where the Boys Are'' as a finale - and you've got a show.
The trouble is that ``The Taffetas'' is afflicted with an acute case of the cutesies.
It requires the four songstresses to throw in an ample serving of ham with their ditties. Their golly-gee-whiz approach takes naivete to the extreme. Mincing doubletakes and little-girl pertness suggests that the Taffetas are from Never-Never Land rather than small-town Muncie, Ind.
Muncie is bombarded with an overabundance of semi-derisive hick references that one suspects was concocted by a New York-snob mentality. It is obviously hoped to be the distaff side of the Plaids, the four-boy group who sang male-quartet hits in ``Forever Plaid,'' which had the longest theatrical run in Hampton Roads history (close to six months).
There's a misbegotten effort to repeat the hilarious comic style of ``Oil City Symphony,'' a small-town satire which was quite another thing.
Kaye, Peggy, Cheryl and Donna are portrayed by Sandy Martin Hudgins, Tara Lynn Stewart, Lori Misitis and Catherine Segars. They can carry a tune well enough but mostly they require the tunes to carry them. A show with a cast this small demands truly phenomenal personality-performers. While pleasant enough, the spark just isn't here. The girls are too similar, suggesting a one-note naivete throughout.
Closest thing to a standout is Misitis' rendering of ``Where the Boys Are.'' Stewart has some comic timing. But only strange genetics could have made these four birth sisters.
The titles, and the songs, are familiar gems, but these versions are pretty routine shadows of the originals. The entire cast would have been well advised to try re-creating the memorable songs rather than spoofing them. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DOMINION THEATER
From left, Lori Misitis, Catherine Segars, Sandy Martin Hudgins and
Tara Lynn Stewart star in ``The Taffetas'' at The Founders Inn.
Graphic
THEATER REVIEW
What: ``The Taffetas''
Where: The Founders Inn in Virginia Beach, presented by Dominion
Theater
Who: Directed by Bryan Potts, musical direction by Gary Spell,
starring Sandy Martin Hudgins, Tara Lynn Stewart, Lori Misitis,
Catherine Segars
When: Thursdays through Saturdays, dinner at 5:30 p.m., curtain
at 8, through March 14
Tickets: $36.50 for dinner and show; $22 for dinner only
Call: 366-5749