‘Respect’ lacks respect for civil rights movement

Erin Washington

If you missed Aretha Franklin at the Opera House two weeks ago, then groove on over to Dorothy Marcic’s “Respect: A Musical Journey.”

The latest show to hit the Stuart Street Playhouse is a musical revue that explores women’s history through song. Featuring famous tunes like “I Wanna Be Loved By You,” “I Will Survive” and “Video,” the show will get you wanting to sing along, an impulse Marcic implores you to indulge — as she announces before the start of the show, “Please keep the aisles clear, unless you feel like dancing in them.”

The minute you walk in, you immediately sense the auditorium feel of a cruise ship show. The stage is small, with a band elevated in the back and images of women from throughout the 20th Century drawn on the backdrop. But it all makes sense; this is a four-woman show.

Through acting and song, Kathy St. George, Tiana Checchia, Amiee Collier and Kareema M. Castro travel through the last 100 years of women’s history. The story is the autobiography of Marcic, a baby boomer raised in Pewaukee, Wisc., played by St. George. It begins with her grandmother, who came to Illinois from Norway in 1909. Beginning with the songs of the flappers, the show soon leads into the blues, referencing artists such as Billie Holliday and mentioning black civil and women’s rights advocate Ida B. Wells.

As it moves into the 1930s and ’40s, we hear from a variety of female icons, including Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. We watch as men go off to war, leaving behind their jobs and American women their first opportunity to enter the full-time workforce. We then transition into the 1950s — the era of housewives and “Leave it to Beaver” — and we wonder, what happened to the people of color? We know that black teenagers were dancing as much as white ones, albeit in different places, but black mothers depicting idyllic housewives seems a bit unrealistic for the times.

As the 1960s approach, “Respect” flashes back to 1955 and the strongest woman of the time: Rosa Parks. We hear that Martin Luther King Jr. idolized her and credits her with influencing the civil rights movement.

Though the homage to Parks is nice, it neglects the fact that other strong black women long before her refused to submit to Jim Crow. Included were the aforementioned Wells and Irene Morgan, whose 1944 refusal to give up her seat on an interstate bus in Virginia led to a Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in interstate travel. Although “Respect” makes a nice attempt at racial inclusion in such a personal story for Marcic, it fails in being an accurate portrayal of blacks in the 50s.

Soon the racial lines are blurred again, as we are brought into the 1970s and to the end of the show. The new women’s liberation movement is brushed upon, expressing that “moving toward equality is a long and bumpy road, but we’re headed in the right direction.” Next there are a few songs from the 80s, although the show misses a lot of strong female voices from the end of the century: Pat Benatar, Madonna, Janet Jackson and maybe even TLC or Destiny’s Child.

But the show’s strong suit is its compassion for the baby boomer generation. St. George shakes it in a “Video” hip-hop dance like you’d never think someone of her generation would or could, making her the hippest boomer girl of them all. So if you like music that spans the 20th Century you’ll enjoy “Respect.” If you’re a female boomer, you’ll love it.

To purchase tickets, visit the Stuart Street Playhouse box office, go to www.telecharge.com or call 800-447-7400. For more information about “Respect,” visit www.respectamusicaljourney.com.

From left to right: Tiana Checchia, Kareema Castro and Amiee Collier in RESPECT, a Musical Journey, playing at the Stuart Street Playhouse through November 26. The play chronicles the last 100 year of women’s history through song. (Jeffery Dunn photo)