Greenberg and the Shirelles edit

The Shirelles were an American girl group in the early 1960s, and the first to have a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The members of the quartet were Shirley Owens (the main lead singer), Doris Coley, Beverly Lee, and Addie "Micki" Harris.^[2]

Florence Greenberg (September 16, 1913 – November 2, 1995) originally created Tiara Records. The first song recorded and released on the label was "I Met Him On a Sunday", by the Shirelles. Just as the record started to break locally, Greenberg sold the company with the Shirelles' contract to Decca Records for US$4000. With that money, she started a new label in 1959, called Scepter Records, which became one of the leading record labels in the 60s.^[3]

Mutrux and Escott's collaborations edit

Mutrux and Escott had collaborated on the book for the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet,^[4][5] which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.^[6] Mutrux, who knew about Florence Greenberg, conceived Baby It's You! The Musical,^[7] which is part of Mutrux's planned "American Pop Anthology" series, focusing on American music from the 1950s to the 1980s. Million Dollar Quartet was also part of this series.^[8]

Involvement of Epps edit

Epps is director of the Pasadena Playhouse. In late 2009, one of the shows scheduled to play there suddenly closed:

". . . I'd heard several good things about a smaller workshop production of this show that was at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood. I did a little reading about the subject matter — about the Shirelles and Florence Greenberg and all of that — and went over to see it. I was very taken with it and very taken with the idea of developing it for a larger venue, so we were able to make an arrangement to make it the last show of our season."^[7]

This is not the first jukebox musical Epps had worked on: he directed Play On!, with Duke Ellington songs, and Blues in the Night.^[7]

Florence Greenberg is an average New Jersey housewife. A talent show is held at her daughter's school, and a group of African-American girls are preparing to perform. Florence's daughter is surprised at their talent, quickly notifying her mother, and Florence decides to make the group recording artists. To accommodate them, she founds Scepter Records. After the success of the Shirelles, the new name of the group, Florence and Scepter Records go on to "discover recording artists like the Kingsmen, the Isley Brothers and Dionne Warwick."^[9]

±Denotes that character is a member of the Shirelles.

California (2009) edit

The show premiered at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles on July 18, 2009, playing until August 30, 2009,^[10] choreographed by Birgitte Mutrux, directed by Floyd Mutrux, and starring Meeghan Holaway. Other cast members included Erica Ash and Barry Pearl.^[11] Another production with the same cast played at the Pasadena Playhouse from November 13, 2009, to December 13, 2009.^[12]

Broadway (2011) edit

The show opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, starring Beth Leavel as Florence,^[13][14] directed by Sheldon Epps, and with musical supervision and arrangements by Rahn Coleman. Baby It's You! began previews on March 26, 2011, and officially opened on April 27,^[13] with choreography by Brigitte Mutrux, orchestrations by Don Sebesky, scenic design by Anna Louizos, costume design by Lizz Wolf, lighting design by Howell Binkley, and projection design by Jason H. Thompson.^[15] Joining Leavel as the Shirelles were Christina Sajous, Erica Ash, Kyra DaCosta, and Crystal Starr Knighton.^[15][16][17] The production closed on September 4, 2011.^[18]

Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis gave the musical a "B−" rating, calling it "a night out that is easy on the ear ... 'Baby It's You' gives Leavel, a Tony Award-winner for The Drowsy Chaperone, a platform for both her vocal and her dramatic talents ... [T]he quartet playing the Shirelles are given little to do but capably sing and dance their way through the group's repertoire while breaking a succession of costume change land speed records. But there is never any doubt that the main attractions here ARE the hits — this is a jukebox musical so unashamed about its nature that it starts with the projected image of an actual jukebox."^[19]

Charles Isherwood in The New York Times called the production "dismal" and criticized the "[i]nvitations to sing along" and the "inducements to wallow in visions of happy yesterdays".^[20]

Steven Suskin in Variety unfavorably compared the show to Jersey Boys: "Imagine [the latter] without the carefully integrated character development of Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio, and with a tunestack only one quarter as imperishable. You needn't imagine it; just wander to the Broadhurst for Baby It's You!" He further stated that Leavel did a capable job filling a poorly scripted role.^[21]

In the Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones wrote, "The Shirelles, one of the greatest girl groups of all time, get a show of such total ineptitude and cynical profiteering that your mouth pretty much dangles open in disbelief for the duration of the entire tawdry proceedings."^[22] Linda Winer (Newsday) said of the show: "[I]t's just another jukebox musical."^[23]

An original Broadway cast recording was released by Universal Music Group on June 14, 2011. The album, recorded from April 17 to 25, 2011, is produced by Richard Perry and associate-produced by Rahn Coleman.^[24]

On April 27, 2011, the date the production opened on Broadway, it was announced that a personality rights lawsuit against the play's producers had been filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The suit alleged unauthorized and uncompensated use of the names, likenesses, and biographical information of Beverly Lee (a surviving member of The Shirelles who owns the trademark to the group's name); late Shirelles members Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris Jackson; Dionne Warwick; and Chuck Jackson. The suit sought damages on the plaintiffs' behalf. (The other surviving member of the original Shirelles, Shirley Alston Reeves, was not named as a plaintiff.)^[25] On December 15, 2011, a federal judge asserted that the suit be discontinued after both sides agreed to settle.^[26]

• Official website of Baby It's You!
• Internet Broadway Database listing