November 12, 2005-January 8, 2006
Pick of the Week!
Greater Milwaukee Today/Time Out
Critics' Choice!
Shepherd Express Metro
"An incredibly entertaining
musical show!"
Wisconsin Public Radio - WHAD-FM
reprinted from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, November 14, 2005
Take the latest Stackner Cabaret show up an octave and you'd have The Andrews Sisters.
The show, "The Andrews Brothers," written and directed by Roger Bean, features a male singing trio, not-so-coincidentally named Patrick, Max and Lawrence Andrews.
The brothers, Ben Cherry playing Patrick, Adam Estes playing Lawrence and Michael Jenkinson playing Max, have tried to enlist, but various physical failings have them branded 4-F. Failing at enlistment, the brothers are supporting the war effort as stage managers for a USO show.
They work backstage for countless Andrews Sisters shows to the point where the brothers can mimic the women's song and dance routines perfectly. Then the brothers' routine brightens when Peggy, a pin-up / singer played by Melinda Pfundstein, arrives to appear on the bill with the Andrews Sisters.
But before Peggy can join the sisters onstage, the women are forced to cancel the show, ruining Peggy's big chance at the spotlight in the process. The brothers, who are star struck by her, gallantly and nervously step up to save the day, in wigs, padding, makeup and skirts.
Bu
ilt of classic World War II-era tunes, sung in the Andrews Sisters' trademark close harmony, the show is a lightly plotted, gender-bending revue. Its strengths lie in vintage tunes that mix melodic simplicity and harmonic complexity and hold up remarkably well a half-century after they were written.
Tunes such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön," "Rosie the Riveter," "Stuff Like That There," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and, of course, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" are a delight to hear.
Cherry, Estes and Jenkinson make easy work of the vocal harmonies, and insert enough guys-in-drag humor to get laughs, but not too much to make the joke so stale. Pfundstein creates the quintessential sweet-as-pie, girl-next-door type, and tosses off tunes with vocal finesse and theatrical charm.
A trip back in time
WWII ERA BRINGS FUN TO THE STAGE IN 'THE ANDREWS BROTHERS'
reprinted from Greater Milwaukee Today, November 23, 2005
World War II, the United Service Organizations, rationing, a good deal of patriotism. Throw in the Andrew Sisters, and all those in their 60s, 70s or older, and they have a pile of memories to draw from.
Thus Roger Bean’s "The Andrews Brothers," presently playing at Stackner Cabaret Theater, has a rich appeal for many.
Three young brothers who were rejected from military service because of asthma, flat feet and nearsightedness respectively decide to contribute their time to the USO as stagehands in order to satisfy their need for some kind of service. In between helping with shows, they engage in a little three-part harmony themselves.
The Andrew Sisters are coming to entertain the troops, and Peggy, one of their back-up singers, arrives early and catches the brothers singing. She thinks they’re good, so the four of them do some singing together while waiting for the real act to arrive.
It happens that the show gets canceled, so The Andrews Brothers dress up like The Andrews Sisters and decide to perform in their stead. This contrived introduction eventually gets us to the real pleasure of the show - hearing three gentlemen and one young lady sing together.
The songs and one tap-dance number were of high quality. The three male performers also had some comedic talent. Once they got going, the steady stream of recognizable ‘40s tunes was very entertaining. Some of the silly pop tunes that were included in their repertoire were "The Hut-Sut Song," "Mairzy Doats," "Shoo Shoo Baby" and "Rum and Coca Cola."
Two especially effective numbers rendered by Melinda Pfundstein were, "Stuff Like That There" and "Slow Boat to China." She collaborated on many numbers with the male trio, but several numbers stood out: "Breathless," "Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree" and "Accentuate the Positive."
Two of the liveliest numbers were "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." "Rosie the Riveter" brought back memories for me as I recall young women taking their places in factories while many of the men were fighting the war. "Corns for My Country" was especially amusing as the Andrews Brothers suffered while wearing high heels for their cross-dressing act.
It was fun reliving another time period when the world seems to have been more united in a common cause with songs that were primarily promulgated by radio and 78 rpm records. It was certainly not a completely happy time, but it was less complicated.
Adam Estes, Ben Cherry and Michael Jenkinson blended nicely together and seemed to be enjoying themselves almost as much as the audience was. Melinda Pfundstein, a Betty Grable look-alike, provided contrast.
All songs Used By Permission.
All Rights Reserved.
bit of fun!"
–Shepherd Express
"Don't miss it!"
–Wisconsin Public Radio
'THE ANDREWS BROTHERS' RECALLS THE WORLD WAR II ERA
reprinted from OnMilwaukee.com, November 14, 2005
In costume and makeup on stage at the Stackner Cabaret, Melinda Pfundstein looks strikingly like a tastefully-
dressed Varga Girl from the 1940s. Pfundstein's poise and prettiness recall a young Betty Grable as she plays Peggy, a World War II-era pin-up girl trying to prove she's more than a pretty face in Roger Bean's "The Andrews Brothers." It's a World War II-era story, so let go of contemporary politics, sit back and watch a show set in a time when war was still marketed by the entire media as being reasonably okay.
Peggy has arrived on an island in the South Pacific to perform a USO show with the Andrews Sisters. When it becomes apparent that the Andrews Sisters will be unable to make it to the performance, the show is canceled. Eager for a chance on stage, three musical brothers working on the stage crew will do what they can to ensure that the show goes on.
Meet the Andrews Brothers: three guys whose health problems have prevented them from joining the military to fight the Japanese like every other guy on the West Coast.
Michael Jenkinson plays Max, a stage manager for the USO not admitted into the military because of a flat foot. Adam J. Estes plays Lawrence, a thin guy with glasses and difficulty memorizing song lyrics who was not admitted into the military because of overwhelming near-sightedness. Ben Cherry plays Patrick, a big guy prone to nervousness who was not admitted into the military because of asthma, which complicates a nervous stutter.
These three characters, who would've had considerable problems on the front lines of combat, 
have obvious problems in song and dance numbers that create the kind of comedy everyone's come to expect from Roger Bean.
Bean, whose last cabaret show at The Rep was "Honky Tonk Laundry," has a proven track record of taking an era and a setting, choosing a well-blended balance of popular and obscure songs from the milieu and forging them around a clever plot. ... The popular songs from the World War II era are so ubiquitously familiar that they probably only feel like they go by much quicker than the others. Fueled by instant recognition, songs like "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "Beer Barrel Polka," "Mairzy Doats" and "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" seem to speed by. ... Darci Brown Wutz's choreography is remarkably clever in places, with smart bits of staging, which make for fresh twists on tradition. There's an interesting aesthetic balance struck in the way Bean and Wutz staged "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," for instance, that makes for one of the most satisfying individual numbers in the show.
'THE ANDREWS BROTHERS' bounces along briskly, its four delightful vocalists tearing through The Andrews Sisters catalog with vivacious verve and beautiful blend. Sure, the premise is corny (three brothers dress in drag and fill in for The Andrews Sisters at a USO show, assisted by "Peggy the Pin-Up Girl"), but the songs and the jokes are all performed with such skill and precision that you just can't help but enjoy the entire affair."
reprinted from Shepherd Express, December, 2005