BWW Reviews: FEELIN' GROOVY is a Trip Through Time!

FEELIN' GROO'VY marks the start of the fifth season for The Music Box Theater, and it stars the founding "fab five" as they pay homage to the Woodstock era. Rebekah Dahl, Brad Scarborough, Kristina Sullivan, Cay Taylor, and Luke Wrobel are the masters of the cabaret scene here in Houston, and these song fests with skits in between have become second nature to them. They all are super talented, and this set of tunes allows them to take on something unique by bringing in the classic rock genre to their repertoire. It doesn't always work with Broadway style singers like this, but there are moments when they figure out how to master the sounds of the sixties and seventies and translate them to the theater. If you love the Zombies or Blood, Sweat, and Tears then you are in for a treat you can sing-a-long with.

The main concept of FEELIN' GROOVY is the core company of The Music Box are paying tribute to the man that runs their high end concession stand - Bill. He's an older gentleman who remembers fondly the era of the 60s and 70s when songwriters ruled the chart, and when music festivals were happening with great regularity culminating in Woodstock. So as the gang prepares for "Billstock", a "Magic Man" from Rebekah's sordid 90s past appears and sets them in a time vortex. Seconds become hours, and somehow an entire three day music festival passes in the span of a one hundred and twenty minute cabaret set. Along the way we meet Suzanne who is Kristina's alter ego, Yoko Ono on her way to Lakewood Church, a sixties concert organizer, and two British children who grow up in the time vortex created by the show out behind the theater.

The skits that hold all of this together are "laugh out loud" funny, but it's the songs you come for. The gang starts off with their campy theatrical take of "Time of the Season" which is interesting because it sounds like stage folk taking on rock. My worry was that this was going to be a full two hours of Broadway Babies belting out classic FM hits of the 60s and 70s in an awkward unusual way. Sometimes that did happen, but other times the cast transcended the whole thing and made it seem second nature. MVP should go to Kristina Sullivan who found a way to make James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" sound incredibly fresh and well suited to her operatic voice. She also does a heart-wrenching version of "Long Long Time" that surpasses the Linda Rondstadt original in sheer emotion and delivery. Each member handles one solo pretty dang well, and the result is you'll leave smiling at the nostalgia they evoke as they put their own imprint on pieces we all know too well. Songs like "Gimme Shelter", "Brown-eyed Girl", "One is the Loneliest Number", and "Magic Man" all swirl by in a purple haze of pastiche with panache. The band is awesome and led by Glenn Sharp. This troop has it all down pat, and FEELIN' GROOVY benefits from the seasoned veterans that have played here for just over four years.

FEELIN' GROOVY is pure fun and nostalgia for a time when rock was coming into its own as political expression of the 60s and then on to personal diatribe of the 70s. The company's forte is always going to be tackling standards and show tunes, but it is nice to see them venture out into bold new territory now and then. I did wonder why "Billstock" never included the Fifth Dimension's song "Bill", but the musical choices are still brave and authentic to the era they are covering. Fans of the 60s and 70s will tap their feet and sing along with wild abandon no matter what the results are. My advice is "Go!" and "Have fun!" Bill will make sure you have the right amount of wine and beer to survive his music festival, and the performers will carry you the rest of the way. The Music Box Theater is one of Houston's greatest attractions right now, because they do simple straight-forward shows that cater to their strengths as first class singers.

Tickets can be obtained from the box office through the telephone at (713) 522-7722 or by way of the Internet at http://www.themusicboxtheater.com/.

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff

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