Kate Warner decided to take an unorthodox approach to her production of the 1960s musical revue "Beehive" by employing an all-female band to play the music, not just have women sing the songs as the script calls for. She wanted the show about the impact of women's music on women's lives to feel legitimate and not pretentious. Warner had to change people's perceptions that an all-female band format would not work or be cool, but it became a key part of the production's success. "Beehive" runs the musical gamut of the 1960s from "My Boyfriend's Back" to "Respect" through a narrator and friends illustrating how the music

1. When KATE WARNER cast the ’60s
musical revue BEEHIVE, she
decided to take a slightly
unorthodox approach. Not only
would the songs be sung by
women, as the script calls for, but
she would employ an all-female
band to play the music as well.
“This script could be approached
in many different ways,” Warner
explains. “You could make it very
campy and it would be an okay
show, but we really wanted to
make it explode. If we were going
to talk about the significant impact
of women’s music on the lives of
real women, we had to make it
legitimate and not pretentious. We
had to have an all-girl band.”
In Beehive a narrator and her
friends illustrate how the music of
the day reflected women’s emotions
and political consciousness. The
show traces events from the inno-
cent days of the early ’60s to the
Vietnam era with a musical palate
to match. Songs run the gamut
from the Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s
Back” to Aretha’s “Respect.”
“A hundred middle school kids
rushed the stage one Saturday
night,” Warner says of a scene
about Woodstock. “That just
doesn’t happen in theater.”
Warner’s biggest challenge was
changing people’s perceptions of
the all-female band format. “All we
heard was that it wasn’t going to
work or that the audience wouldn’t
get it,” Warner says of pre-show
detractors. “More specifically, and
this is the one that pisses me off,
was that it wouldn’t be cool. All we
hear now is that this production is
so amazing because of the all-girl
rock band playing onstage with
the divas.”
Musicians ANGELA MOTTER
on guitar, percussionist JEN LOWE,
horn player AMY LEE, bassist
FRANCENE MACHETTO and SUE
WILKINSON on keyboards make up
the band while KATIE KNEELAND,
WENDY MELKONIAN, RITA
DOLPHIN, KENYA HAMILTON,
DENITRA ISLER and BETTY HART
are the actors/divas.
Beehive returns from July 14
through August 15 at the Rialto
Center for the Performing Arts
at Georgia State University in
Atlanta. Ticket information can be
found at www.theatricaloutfit.org.
(CARLA A. DESANTIS)
12 ROCKRGRL >> SUMMER 2004
QUEEN BEES
GRLTALK
Photos by David Essaray