Review: THE ANDREWS BROTHERS Jukebox Musical Recreates a WWII USO Show Somewhere in the South Pacific
In 1940, America's military was essentially "on alert" and escalating both in enlistment and training in preparation for what appeared to be our inevitable entry into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, aware that troops needed the occasional "break" from their daily routine, approached several private organizations and challenged them to pool their resources to provide the much-needed recreational and entertainment services for these hard-working service personnel. And in February 1941, the USO (United Service Organizations) was chartered and soon began "Camp Shows" at bases within the U.S. Popular entertainers selflessly volunteered to perform for free, represented every corner of show business.
With the U.S. entry into WWII after Pearl Harbor, 
the USO expanded their services to U.S. outposts globally. Newsreel footage taken at USO Shows around the world were screened in movie theaters back home, giving stateside citizens a chance to see their boys, often more than half a world away, enjoying the type of entertainment being presented back home. And ever since then, the non-profit USO organization has existed to provide recreational, entertaining, and morale-lifting services to U.S. military service personnel worldwide, wherever troops are stationed to defend our freedom and our country.
Playwright Roger Bean (The Marvelous Wondrettes, Life Could Be A Dream), was born in 1962 and began studying theater when he was 8 years old. Thanks to his parents, Bean's love of music from the 40s, 50s and 60s, led to the creation of several popular jukebox musicals centered around the songs which bring back happy memories not only for Bean, but for everyone who grew up dancing their troubles away to the soundtrack of our lives via the radio and movies, and later, television.
Bean's jukebox musical THE ANDREWS BROTHERS, with musical and vocal arrangements by Roger Bean, Michael Borth and Jon Newton, 
brings the excitement and great music presented at a 1945 USO show somewhere on a small island in the South Pacific inside the Beverly O'Neill Theater, presented by International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center through March 8, directed and choreographed by Jamie Torcellini, with musical direction by Brent Crayon. The sung-through musical is sure to please those who remember the 1940s first-hand, or those of us who appreciate the song stylings of those bygone days. According to Bean, "Here we create the atmosphere of a rag-tag USO team - a very real organization with an important and impressive history - sing songs familiar to many in the audience, and try to live up to the memory of a legendary singing group."
THE ANDREWS BROTHERS opens with last-minute preparations underway for a USO show, which is threatened with cancellation when a certain famous trio of singing sisters fails to show up. And with amateur singer, "Peggy the Pin-Up Girl" (Kelley Dorney) soon to arrive to go on with the famous trio, it's left to three earnest and determined stagehands (Michael D'Elia, Max DeLorch and Grant Hodges) to go on with the show. Mistaken identities, zany adventures, a bit of cross-dressing, and the music of an entire generation highlight this valentine to the heroes of World War II.
Kelley Dorney, effervescent to a tee, keeps a smile on her face even when things go wrong. After all, as a singer grateful for her first "international" singing engagement, she has no choice but to be sure the show goes on, even when the "stars" don't show up. So what's a girl to do? How about recruit THE ANDREWS BROTHERS, the stagehands, to don the costumes in the Andrews Sisters trunk, and entertain the troops as if nothing has gone wrong? After all, as she tells them, "the audience is far enough away not to notice you are men in dresses." And thanks to costume designer Kim DeShazo, the hoax works beautifully, as do all the wonderful 1940s ensembles worn by Dorney during the show.
And go on they do, thanks to the talented triple-threat performances of Michael D'Elia, Max DeLorch and Grant Hodges who not only cross-dress and harmonize beautifully, but even tap dance in heels! The boys appear to be having the time of their lives and their enthusiasm will grab your attention, get your feet tapping, and hopefully your hands clapping. Among the numbers presented by the four performers are classic favorites "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive," "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," "G.I. Jive," "Mairzy Doats," "Rosie the Riveter," and "Three Little Sisters" among many others.
In the spirit of what were surely amateur shows at the time, things that can go wrong do go wrong, props and scenery get misplaced or disappear, set pieces get stuck backstage, music is often played off-key, but nothing stops the dedicated and talented cast from presenting the best show possible to their audience of appreciative GIs, in this case, the audience itself. I do hope at future performances, the opening announcement encourages the audience to play along and react as those excited, young servicemen would have, as the night I attended the room was way too quiet so the audience interaction the actors were looking for never happened.
The saving grace was when two audience members were pulled onstage by cast members and asked to participate in several numbers, which generated very appreciative responses and laughter from the audience. On the night I attended, Owen and Dennis were the lucky two and a riot, especially during the "Six Jerks in a Jeep" song in which they took on the roles of "beep beep" horn and the Jeep's driver. And applause greeted the group as the "Jeep" was pushed around the stage, with all six occupants reacting to every move with enough unison to make you believe the two invited audience members had done it before - which, of course, they had not!
Kudos to the entire production's creative team including set designer Todd Faux, 
lighting designer Crystal R. Shomph, costume designer Kim DeShazo, sound designer Dave Mickey, prop designer Patty Briles and hair and wigs designer Anthony Gagliardi for brilliantly recreating a moving tribute to the gloriously innocent days of the 1940s, led by the capable vision of director/choreographer Jamie Torcellini and musical director Brent Crayon.
THE ANDREWS BROTHERS performances take place on Thursdays, Fridays and 
Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 8, 2020. Tickets are $49 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and $52 on Sundays. International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 330 East Seaside Way in Long Beach, CA 90802. For reservations and information, call 562-436-4610 or go to InternationalCityTheatre.org.
Photo credit: Tracey Roman
From This Author - Shari Barrett
Shari Barrett, a Los Angeles native, has been active in the theater world since the age of six - acting, singing, and dancing her way across the boards all over town. After teaching in secondary sc... (read more about this author)
Interview: Director John Farmanesh-Bocca On His Vision For PICNIC By William IngeMarch 21, 2023
John Farmanesh-Bocca is a multi-award-winning physical theatre director, the Founding Artistic Director of both Not Man Apart - Physical Theatre Ensemble (2005-2015) and Shakespeare Santa Monica (2003-2014). Now he has shifted gears to go on a search for America by directing the sensual, passionate, and delightfully funny Pulitzer Prize winning play Picnic by William Inge, with his version featuring an entirely Black American cast. I decided to speak with him about his vision for presenting the quintessentially American play and the unique challenges faced while shifting gears from physical movement to character development.
Interview: Ben Donenberg, Graham Wetterhahn, And Sara Beil On THE TEMPEST: AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCEMarch 17, 2023
As a fan of Shakespeare and immersive theatre productions, I was intrigued when I heard that The Shakespeare Center LA and After Hours Theatre Company were set to present the premiere of The Tempest: An Immersive Experience, a fully reimagined audience-participation performance based on William Shakespeare's tale of family members caught up in a storm and shipwrecked on an isolated Mediterranean island. So I decided to speak with the production's director Ben Donenberg, Shakespeare Center LA Artistic Director, Graham Wetterhahn, the Producing Artistic Director at After Hours Theatre Company, and Sara Beil one of the producers for After Hours who created the immersive design, about their vision for an immersive way to include audience members in the experience of Shakespeare's tempestuous play.
Interview: Co-Directors Jeremie Loncka And Rich Loya On (IM)MIGRANTS OF THE STATE At The Actors' GangMarch 17, 2023
For seventeen years, the teaching artists of the Actors’ Gang Prison Project have been creating transformational opportunities for incarcerated men and women. Their latest workshop production, (Im)migrants of the State, is performed by an ensemble of their alumni with over 240 years of combined incarceration who have found their way to freedom and now want to share their stories with audiences. I decided to speak with its co-directors, Jeremie Loncka, who also serves as the Director of Programs for the Actors’ Gang’s Prison Project, and ensemble member Rich Loya, about their vision for the project and how it came into being with the two of them at the helm.
Interview: Director Paula Kelley On Neil Simon's LITTLE ME Musical At Manhattan Beach Community Church TheaterMarch 13, 2023
The soon-to-open production of the Neil Simon musical Little Me at Manhattan Beach Community Church Theater (MBCC), the longest running theater in the South Bay since 1956, is directed by Paula Kelley with choreography by Angela Asch. Originally scheduled to open in the Spring of 2020, I decided to speak with the director about the production’s three-year delay and how she envisions presenting a musical full of comic vignettes featuring such a large cast, especially since it was written specifically for Sid Caesar to play multiple roles as all the heroine’s husbands and lovers.
Interview: Mitch Hara Talks Revamped MUTANT OLIVE 2.0 at the Hudson Guild TheatreFebruary 26, 2023
Back in 2015, I caught a solo performance play Mutant Olive, created and performed by Mitch Hara. I decided to speak with him about his revamped play, Mutant Olive 2.0, soon to begin performance at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, to ask about the new show, it’s title, and what’s been going on during the 8 years since Mutant Olive in its original form premiered.
