FST cabaret show ‘Up on the Roof’ brings back the sounds of the 1950s and 1960s
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, teams of songwriters worked slavishly but creatively inside New York City’s Brill Building (and other nearby offices) to craft songs that captured the spirit of teenagers and young love that would come to define a generation.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller; Carole King and her husband, Gerry Goffin; Cynthia Weil and her husband, Barry Mann; Neil Diamond and Burt Bacharach and Hal David, were among the composers and lyricists who competed regularly to find the next hit for such groups as The Coasters and The Drifters and a broad range of solo singers. Prominent producers as Phil Spector and Don Kirschner help create what came to be known as the Brill sound through their lyrical spirit and arrangements.
Florida Studio Theatre’s newest original cabaret show “Up on the Roof,” devised by Rebecca Hopkins and Richard Hopkins and directed by Catherine Randazzo, celebrates that creative output with more than two dozen songs that trace the changing sounds of the era.
The playlist starts out with silly ditties with playful lyrics, like “Who Put the Bomp (in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp),” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” and numbers that capture the innocence of high school dating (“Teenager in Love”), before growing deeper as the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War led to darker and more introspective songs and sounds. And those songwriting teams grew up themselves.
The show follows a pattern familiar to those who have seen previous FST cabaret revues. A cast of four runs through the songs, often beautifully arranged by accompanist Jim Prosser, interspersed with bits of patter and information about the songs and writers. It’s formulaic at times and some of the dialogue is delivered so breathlessly and with such heightened enthusiasm that it can seem canned. But the stories and songs, as well as the singing, grows richer as the show progresses through its two acts.
Jannie Jones, a veteran of more than a dozen previous cabaret shows, returns, joined by Brandon Wardell and two FST cabaret newcomers, Joey Panek (a familiar local television presence) and Jacquelyne Paige.
When one is singing a lead vocal, the others are providing rousing shoo-be-doo-wop style backups, matched with choreography (by Ben Liebert) that is so associated with the period, with pointed fingers, arm gestures and occasional shimmies. Jones sounds best in the second half when her big voice can let loose on powerhouse arrangements of “Natural Woman,” “Walk on By” and “River Deep – Mountain High.”
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The engaging Paige can be cute on a song like “Stupid Cupid” and then display greater range on such Carole King songs as “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “It’s Too Late.” Panek’s broad smile is welcoming, and he does nice turns on “Spanish Harlem,” “Stand by Me” and “Up on the Roof.” And Wardell reveals his adaptable style in such songs as “This Magic Moment,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” and a couple of Bob Dylan tunes in which he plays guitar and harmonica.
The singers create some pleasing harmonies and are always supporting one another, just as Prosser’s impressive keyboard playing keeps the energy flowing.
Like most FST cabaret shows, the material doesn’t dig deep, and there may be a few selections that have little to no connection to the Brill sound. But together, the performers and the music create a pleasant 90 minutes that keep you wanting to sing along.
‘Up on the Roof’
Developed by Rebecca Hopkins and Richard Hopkins with Sarah Durham and musical arrangements by Jim Prosser. Reviewed Oct 10, Florida Studio Theatre Court Cabaret, 1265 First St., Sarasota. Through Feb. 4. Tickets are $34-$39. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Review: ‘Up on the Roof’ recalls hits of the 1960s at FST cabaret
