Since its debut in Milwaukee in 1999, The Marvelous Wonderettes has proven enduringly popular. The jukebox musical, which focuses on a four-member girl group performing at their 1958 high school prom and their 1968 class reunion, has been produced at theaters across the country, eventually enjoying an Off-Broadway run in 2008.
Now, it's being staged in the Hill Country by the Frederecksburg Theater Company. For a musical, it's a fairly cozy show, with a relatively simple set and only four cast members. "It's a much more intimate experience than doing a larger production where you've got forty, fifty, sixty people on stage," says actress Heidi Melton. "It's just the four of us... so we really get to bond a lot more."
For her castmate Christy Brown, performing in The Marvelous Wonderettes is a treat, because she's been a lifelong fan of the '50s and '60s songs that make up the show. "I was raised with this music," she says. "So whenever I found out about the show, I was like, 'Yes! Finally! A show that I already know by heart!'"
The Marvelous Wonderettes runs through August 20 at the Fredericksburg Theater.
