Diamond Head Theatre’s “Beehive” is an 80-minute, one-act parade of hits mostly from between 1960 and 1971, with a few obscurities. Director Malindi Fickle treats the artists and their music with respect, and the talented, all-female ensemble cast of 12 does quite well overall in bringing them to life.
Several individual performances are particularly memorable.
Alison Maldonado raises the roof and rocks the rafters with her impression of Tina Turner singing the Ike & Tina Turner hits “River Deep Mountain High” and “Proud Mary.” Aiko Schick delivers a commanding rendition of Lesley Gore’s 1964 declaration of independence, “You Don’t Own Me.”
Bailey Barnes has a great showcase number early with “You Can’t Hurry Love” and tops it with her personal vocal arrangement of “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You).”
‘BEEHIVE’Presented by Diamond Head Theatre
>> Where: 520 Makapuu Ave.
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through June 9. Also at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and May 30, and at 3 p.m. Saturday and June 1.
>> Cost: $15-$50
>> Info: 733-0274
Raché Sapla submerges herself into the character of Ronnie Spector with uncanny success. Hair and makeup designer Linda Lockwood did the wig that looks eerily like the Ronettes’ signature coiffures, but Sapla provides Spector’s big voice and charisma.
Sapla also does a great job singing lead on a Crystals’ hit, “Then He Kissed Me.”
Alison “Ali” Aldcroft captures the raw power of Janis Joplin with her take on “Cry Baby” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Vanessa Manuel-Mazzullo is adorable throughout as one of three emcees who tie all the songs together and provide historical and cultural context. (Aldcroft and Maldonado are the others.)
Oldies trivia specialists will find places where the music history gets muddled. For instance, “Abraham, Martin and John” was a hit for Dion and has nothing to do with the female artists of the 1960s.” The “British Invasion” had no impact whatsoever on America’s biggest “girl group” of the decades; the Supremes continued to top the Hot 100 singles chart even while the “Invasion” was at its peak.
And, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and recorded by the Shirelles in 1960, was not about breaking up. It was about the question that has bedeviled young women for millennia: If I let him have sex with me tonight, will he respect me in the morning?
The unmentioned irony in “Beehive” is that most of the songs, even songs with messages of female empowerment like “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “You Don’t Own Me,” were written by men.
Don’t write off any of these songs as childish. The situation described in “It’s My Party” — discovering during an event that’s being held in your honor that your significant other is leaving you for someone else — is as relevant for adults of all ages in 2019 as it was when 16-year-old Lesley Gore recorded it in 1963.
So go, enjoy “Beehive” at DHT. Just don’t use the names “Marty” or “Chuck” when the trio of emcees invite you to join them in singing “The Name Game.”