‘Girl’s Night’ Tries to Pleasure Your Mom
November 10, 2009
Amidst a sea of pink feather boas and free for the night (soccer) moms, I found my harsh inner critic shut off for an evening and enjoyed the silly, sing-a-long, theatrical experience that is “Girls Night.” The poor reviews that the show had received had my expectations low, but the vendors selling pocket vibrators set a carefree and raunchy tone that had me reconsidering before the curtain even went up.
I guess it is fitting that the venue, Club Café in downtown Boston, is normally a nightclub, seeing that the musical takes place in a nightclub as well. Girl’s Night written by Louise Roche and adapted for the U.S by Betsy Kelso, follows the lives of five forty-something year olds who have been friends since high school and are on a quest to celebrate their departed friend’s life and her daughter’s engagement.
The departed friend, Sharon (in her white rhinestone apparel and wings), narrates the tale, interacting verbally and physically with the “crowd” of two men. We learn Sharon died at age eighteen in a motorcycle accident, leaving her mother to raise her infant daughter. The show chronicles the four living friends who are having a night out at a karaoke bar, while discussing their trials and tribulations.
While telling their story, each lady goes to the microphone and gets the crowd up and dancing with their renditions of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, “I Am What I Am”, “It’s Raining Men” and other karaoke favorites. Choreographed, in sync dance moves made each song hilariously different from the next. I found the plot line to be thin, but what was lacking in substance was made up for with riotous performances of hit songs from the seventies, eighties, and nineties.
This musical could be an off-Broadway sensation, following in the footsteps of shows such as “Menopause: the Musical” with further character development and plot adjustments. Though stereotypical (the geek, the slut, the pill popper and the broken), the characters are enjoyable and fun.
The powerful voice of UMmass Boston alumn Lara Simpson (as Prozac junkie Anita) resonated through out the room and lit up the stage while the “geek” Kate, played by Chelsea Minton, was on target with her off beat dancing and flailing arms. Women in the audience seemed to identify with each character. I know this because of the “Uh huhs” and “don’t do its” that followed matter of fact line deliveries through out the show.
Every scene in the show rallied around the idea that “you can still have fun at forty”. Lines such as “Say hello to my little friend” while discussing pleasure and vibrators made the audience go wild.
After the show, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to the actresses, who gushed that they loved the crowd that night and hoped my review was not going to be as bad as the ones that had come out earlier that week. I assured them that I had fun and laughed a lot… and I did. I had a fun night out. All in all I didn’t expect much from Girls Night, but I left laughing and singing and wanting to se more of these hilarious ladies.