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Nifty '50s
Published March 17, 2007 at midnight
The plastic '50s, at least the pop-culture version, has returned with The Taffetas, a musical revue featuring a female quartet. This isn't the Elvis '50s, but the years before rock 'n' roll changed the world.
Because of such easy-listening songs as Tennessee Waltz, Johnny Angel and I'm Sorry, the show has proved a favorite of professional and community theaters, which have produced it multiple times in Denver alone.
We recently asked the four women taking the stage at the Garner Galleria Theatre to strike some classic period poses.
The Taffetas
When and where: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in the Garner Galleria Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street
Cost: $25 to $40
Information: 303-893-4100
Reyna Von Vett
Age: 34
Character: Kaye, the mother hen.
First professional job: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Ascot Dinner Theatre.
Where you've seen her: Violet at the Arvada Center; most recently, Mamma Mia! in Las Vegas.
Best thing about the '50s: "Singers were singers. It was pre-technology, pre-trickery. The music didn't rely on gimmicks as much."
Melinda Dickson-Smart
Age: 29
Character: Donna, the baby of the family and wild child.
First professional job: Singing in a duo at clubs.
You've seen her as: Sally Bowles in Cabaret at Town Hall Arts Center and singing with the Byron Shaw Projex.
Best thing about the '50s: "Getting a chance to sing and study this music-these beautiful, beautiful songs, beautiful lyrics and beautiful harmonies-I miss that in modern music. There's something really fun and just very feminine about it."
Elizabeth Welch
Age: 30
Character: Peggy, the Martha Stewart of the group.
First professional job: Little Red Riding Hood for Opera Colorado.
You've seen her in: Many shows at Town Hall Arts Center, including Maria in West Side Story.
Best thing about the '50s: "How dressed you got to go out in public. You took time to set your hair and put on all the right clothes and jewelry. It seems like everything was just perfect. I'm sure it was all on the surface, but the surface was just so pretty."
Juliana Black
Age: 28
Character: Cheryl, '50s prom queen.
First professional acting job: Celebrate Broadway, North Carolina Stage Ensemble.
You've seen her in: Swing! at Country Dinner Playhouse.
Best thing about the '50s: "The coolest thing about the music we're singing is that the harmonies are so well-written and gorgeous.When you have four voices working together to create a sound-it's like a physical warmth thatwe feel when we all come together."
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