What in heavens name is a œjukebox musical?
I suppose its a stage show that manages to shoehorn a storyline in between a lengthy playlist of familiar songs that at some time in the murky past one might have heard come rattling from that glass and chrome box, on the wall of your diner booth, that you slipped a quarter in and pushed some buttons to operate.
And no company in the region stages jukebox musicals with more persistence and success than Pines Dinner Theatre in Allentown, PA, where one of the more popular recent examples of this genre runs until the end of October.
The Marvellous Wonderettes, which pretends--- but not too hard--- to trace the life trajectories of four best friends from their high school prom to their tenth class reunion, all the while managing to perform 33 familiar songs that may or may not---what does it matter?---- have anything to do with the storyline, including Son of a Preacher Man, Leader of the Pack, and Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me.
The show is the product of Roger Bean, a writer/ director who has made a career of this sort of marriage between pop tunes and bubblegum comics, and has proven wildly successful with audiences from Los Angeles, where it opened and ran two years, to off-Broadway, where it played nearly as long and was received kindly by critics, with Variety observing, œThe production practically backflips to make patrons smile.
A more recent revival had the Philadelphia Inquirer critic gushing, œThe Marvelous Wonderettes is one heck of a concert throughout.
For more information, contact Pines Dinner Theatre, 448 N. 17th Street, Allentown, PA by calling 610-433-2333.