They're marvelous and wonderful, they're wonderful and marvelous. Either way, they're "The Marvelous Wonderettes," stars of the musical of the same name that opens the 2012-2013 season Friday at Rochester Civic Theatre.
The play focuses on a '60s-style girl group that charms at the 1958 high school prom and again 10 years later at the class reunion.
"Hopefully, we're starting things off with a bang, with great music and songs that everybody loves," said Greg Miller, who is directing the show.
"The Marvelous Wonderettes" was not originally scheduled to open the season. When "The Producers" was added to the lineup for spring, the Wonderettes got the opening gig.
The relatively late change posed few problems, Miller said. "This being a smaller-cast show, it's a little easier to put up than 'Chicago' or 'Hello Dolly,'" he said.
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For RCT, the Wonderettes are Melissa Adams-Goihl, Brianna Hicken, Maria Schroeder and Stephanie Sedarski. They're backed by a four-piece band led by Doug Petty.
"The girls have a great back story," Miller said. "They're individual characters." Rather than attempting to imitate the stars who made the songs famous, the Wonderettes perform the tunes as themselves.
Among the many songs from the era, audiences will hear "All I Have to Do is Dream," "You Don't Own Me," "Leader of the Pack," "Stupid Cupid" and "Rescue Me."
"Everybody knows them, everybody sings them," Miller said. "There's audience participation, too."
