Play in the City : A trip back to the 50's and 60's

As of today, there are just 12 performances left of the show I saw Wednesday night, and that includes tonight's show at 8:00 p.m. Once you're done reading this, you had better act fast if you want to see the show for yourself!

Wednesday evening, Christi and I headed downtown to the Todd Wehr Theatre at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts to see Four Guyz in Dinner Jackets. My coworker Vicki is friends with one of the guys (make that guyZ) and the show came highly recommended. We settled into our seats in the intimate theater for a night of golden oldies and four-part harmonies and good old-fashioned entertainment.

I was hoping to sneak a few pictures (sans flash) so I'd be better able to illustrate what I saw, but I was reprimanded by an usher after taking two shots of the stage before the show. Oh well!

At 7:30 the lights dimmed and the band– dressed in teal blue dinner jackets and made up of a pianist, a cellist and a drummer – started to play. The drummer had hair slicked back and wore dark framed glasses and looked straight out of the 50's, and I had an immediate little crush on him.

The four guyz ran out in their white jackets and bow ties and grabbed their respective microphones – all attached to long black cords, of course. They very successfully stepped around and through those cords all night, while I kept waiting for one of them to trip over them.

The guys ranged in age, height and build and played off of each other really well, and their harmonies were beautiful. I felt like none of them overshadowed any of the others, and I found myself watching all of them equally. Usually when I see a show, I'll pick a favorite right away, but I really liked all of them!

Christi and I recognized probably two thirds of the songs they sang, some of my favorites being "Why Must I Be a Teenager in Love?", "Silhouettes", "Istanbul (not Constantinople)", and "Blue Moon." One of the highest points was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" at the end of the first act, which was lively and loud and had the whole audience singing along.

The show was completely not what I expected – it was so much more. I expected to see four guys singing songs, maybe making a few jokes – end of story. But the amount of props, and wardrobe changes – from letter sweaters at the school dance to leather jackets for "Leader of the Pack" to black dinner jackets back to white – and different bits was astounding.

For much of it, I felt like I was in a dream, seeing these wacky, hilarious sights before me, and other times, it reminded me of those commercials – I don't even know what they're for – where one person can control what other people do. ("put your head in that fishbowl" / "shake your back" / "jump into that cake" – do you know what I'm talking about?) I felt like if I got up and told these guys to do something crazy, they just would!

For example, the band changed into aliens before our eyes for one bit, with crazy wigs and funny round glasses, and the four guys came out in monster masks and did some great Halloween-inspired songs, including "The Monster Mash" and "Purple People Eater."

There was a lot of audience interaction, and one part that had Christi and me just howling was the school dance part. The stage transformed and the guys handed out props to the whole front row – flamingos and flowers that would add to the dance's tropical theme. Most of the people in the audience were quite a bit older than we were, and they all were such good sports, holding their props high when they were told to. There was one white-haired old lady ahead of us who held her flower up so high for probably ten minutes straight with a huge smile on her face the whole time.

I feel like I could be giving too much away here – I don't want to ruin all the surprises, because you really should go check out this show. A few other highlights include a series of old commercial jingles, and an infomercial for a Platters' Greatest Hits album.

A few of the jokes fall a little flat, but the majority of the show is delightful. Some of the jokes were just lost on Christi and me because we're young, plus we didn't know some of the songs. We are definitely not the target audience for this show, even though people our age can certainly still enjoy it. Though I wasn't alive back then, it still makes me feel nostalgic about high school and about being a teenager, and it makes me wonder what if would have been like to live in the days of drive-in movies, records, and sweet, innocent music.

We were surrounded by people who were actually teenagers in the 50's and 60's, and watching them light up when they recognized songs and jingles from their younger days was almost as fun as watching the actual show.

We walked out wondering if a show like this will be around in 2040 and what kinds of songs and commercials and pop culture references would be included. We vowed we'd certainly see it together then!

If you have a good sense of humor, enjoy some great singing and want to escape and be entertained for two hours, go see this show. Better yet, do a nice thing and take your parents or grandparents to this show – they're sure to love it, and you'll feel good about making them happy!

See the Journal Sentinel's review for another person's perspective, and visit the Four Guyz website for more info. And if you have any questions or want to know more from me about it, please let me know!

Comments

Hi...from Michele's.
This sounded like a great show. Can see why you enjoyed it. I'd love hearing all those "golden oldies" again....Baby boomer that I am.

Posted by: Terri | July 01, 2006 at 11:48 AM

Saw the "Four Guyz" tonight. My wife and I took my Aunt and Uncle. I think my Aunt and Uncle enjoyed it even more than we did. Of course my wife was taken on stage as the "birthday girl," something she won't soon forget.

Posted by: Jeff H | July 06, 2006 at 11:28 PM