Interview with Roger Bean, creator/director of The Marvelous Wonderettes
Q: How did you come up with the concept for The Marvelous Wonderettes?
A: My mom was a song leader and a member of a singing trio back in high school, and she was always singing songs from the 1950s era around the house. In the late 50s she became a wife and homemaker, but in another world I think she would have loved to become a singer and continue doing that. The Marvelous Wonderettes might have been my way of letting her continue do that. I also knew she was a song leader, not a cheer leader, but I thought about mixing those things together, and it all jumbled around and out came as The Marvelous Wonderettes.
Q: The Marvelous Wonderettes takes place during a high school prom. What prompted that setting?
A: When I first started writing the show, I thought that maybe I’d set it during a Sadie Hawkins dance, or maybe the Valentine’s dance or even the homecoming dance. Then I wondered what was the biggest moment in these kids’ life. Back then it was the prom—the big final hurrah before they move on to something else. It took off from there.
Q: How long did it take you to figure out what songs to use and how build a story around those songs?
A: When I write, I spend at least a year not really writing. It’s more a process of listening to a lot of music, coming up with situations, and having it make sense in my head. Once I sit down to write, it pours out because it was all put together in my head and it was ready to spill out. It’s a really good way for me to work. I don’t have to be at a computer, I can do it wherever. I have notebooks in my car, so everywhere I go I can write down notes to myself.
Q: The Marvelous Wonderettes was first performed 10 years ago at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, but that was a far different version than the one you have now.
A: That’s true. It started as a one act show. It did have both acts as it is now, just compressed together. Now there’s so much more depth to the story. One of the actresses in The Laguna Playhouse production is Bets Malone, who was also in the Los Angeles production. I wrote the role of Suzy for her, and she’s been with the show since that early one act version.
Q: Has the show changed much over the last few years?
A: Every time I do it, I change it or fiddle with it. The show is a living and breathing work of art. It’s not a painting, so I continually strive to make it better. And while it works so tremendously well, already, I have made a few changes for The Laguna Playhouse production that will make it even tighter and sharper. I’ve become more confident with the actual rewriting process. At first I didn’t want to mess with it, but it keeps getting better.
Q: The Los Angeles production was at the El Portal Theater, which has about 100 seats. How different is it doing the show at The Laguna Playhouse, which has 420 seats and a larger stage?
A: I have done the show in 500 seat theaters, but when we decided to do the Los Angeles production, we wanted a theater we could fit in for a long period of time. By putting The Marvelous Wonderettes on at the El Portal, we had to squeeze the show down. Now, we can spring back to a larger production. After all, it does take place in a high school gymnasium, so the extra space will be helpful to us.
Q: The Los Angeles production was extended several times, and you had many audience members who returned over and over again. Was that a surprise to you?
A: I always knew the show would find its fans, given the right time and place. I thought it could run in a variety of cities simply because these are characters you want to come back and visit again. Even with the squabbles they have, you recognize these characters. You went to school with these people no matter what year you went to school. And it’s tremendous music. That’s why people love coming back again and again. Some of the fans liked to bring other people to the show to say “look what I found.” I have a feeling they’ll be doing that again at The Laguna Playhouse.
