Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now!

Tweet

Broadway singing stars Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler and Marissa Jaret Winokur met while they were in Hairspray as Amber Von Tussle, Penny Pingleton and Tracy Turnblad, respectively,  at the Neil Simon Theatre 22 years ago and became great friends ever since, with Bundy and Butler actually sharing a dressing room. Now as a tribute to that friendship, they have jointly created a delightfully charming musical revue, Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now! built around songs they sang in that show and the other shows which they created or played in New York. In addition they sing songs that pay tribute to memorable moments in their lives. From the cheers and ovations from the audience at the performance under review, their fans have followed them in big numbers to the New World Stages where they are certain to win new followers.

Interspersed throughout the show are songs from Hairspray sung together or in various combinations:  “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” (used as the opening number), “Good Morning Baltimore” and “I Can Hear the Bells” as a solo for Winokur, and “You Can’t Stop the Beat” (sung as the finale).  Bundy gets to recreate songs she sang as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde on Broadway. She also sings a medley from Ruthless! which she starred in Off Broadway as murderous Tina Denmark, as well as “Oops! I Did It Again” made famous by her understudy in that show, Brittney Spears. Butler sings songs she created on Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors (“Somewhere That’s Green”) and Beetlejuice (“Barbara 2.0.”) As Butler played Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and was in the very first reading and demos of The Little Mermaid, she also sings a medley of Disney songs from her favorite movie musicals including ones from Pocahontas and Aladdin.

In addition, as Bundy was a replacement as Glinda in Wicked, she gets to again sing “Popular,” that show’s hit song. Winokur’s time as Jan in Grease is commemorated by their all joining in that show’s “Tell Me More.” Paying tribute to their friendship, they sing “Old Friends” from Merrily We Roll Along and “For Good” from Wicked.

In describing their lives and careers, Bundy gets to sing the inappropriate song she sang at age five in the Pee Wee Hemisphere Pageant in Kentucky, aping Judy Garland’s “The Man That Got Away,” while Butler regales us with her poor choice for her audition for the movie of Annie (Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”) which needless to say she did not win. Winokur paints a portrait of her childhood with “Some People” from Gypsy, having been told by her parents she had to wait until she finished high school to pursue a career in the theater. More to the point, the actresses do medleys to their children and motherhood including “Baby Mine,” “You Are My Sunshine” and “Baby Face,” in their anecdotes about their husbands and their families.

The trio demonstrates that their voices are as supple and fine as they ever were. Each gets to play their best suit: Winokur’s loud, clarion voice, Bundy’s wry wit and Butler’s recounting her hilarious but painfully missed opportunities even though she has appeared in 12 Broadway shows and been nominated for the Tony Award. Their patter and narration is entertaining and hilarious and the musical numbers are both tributes to their careers as well as songs we have not heard them sing before.

With assured music direction by Andrew Byrne, singers Carla J. Hargrove, Mitchell Gerrard Johnson and Margot Plum offer excellent support on the group songs. Designer Chadd McMillan has put the three actresses in sparkling costumes in different colors, while creating a set which suggests three dressing rooms. Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now is a pleasing and satisfying musical evening as well as trip down memory lane for musical theatergoers.

Mama, I’m A Big Girl Now! (extended through December 21, 2024)

New World Stages, 340 W. 50^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.mamaimabiggirlnow.com

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission