“That Lovin’ Feelin” by James A. Zimmerman is a new musical biography chronicling The Righteous Brothers’ life story featuring many of their memorable songs. The production is directed by Jules Aaron, with choreography and assistant direction by Michele Bernath. The West Coast Premiere production continues through Feb. 7 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in NoHo.
The musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield’s death in 2003, has galvanized the link between rock and rhythm & blues so convincingly that they spurred the creation of a new term, “blue-eyed soul.”
I remember seeing The Righteous Brothers on the bill with Jackie DeShannon at the first Beatles concert at the Hollywood Bowl Aug. 23, 1964, and a lot of that excitement was brought back to life seeing this show thanks to the amazing rock band led by musical director Paul Cady, who also played the older Bill Medley in the show.
The play delves deeply into the struggles these two young white boys had breaking into R&B as well as illuminating the amazing relationship these two performers had for more than 40 years.
They produced over 20 hits like “Little Latin Lupe Lu,” “Justine,” “Unchained Melody,” and of course the song that inspired the title, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin.’”
The premise of the musical is that an older Bill Medley (Paul Cady) is rehearsing to go onstage when a newspaper writer named Ali (Sarah Karpeles) comes in looking for her first big break as a reporter by writing an extensive article about The Righteous Brothers.
The two actors remain onstage throughout the play, freezing in place after introducing each of the segments in the musical.
Unfortunately, Cady is not tall and slim as Bill Medley was, which detracts from the overall realism of his portrayal, much the same as the two actors who portray the duo in their younger years. Morgan Lauff resembles Cady in looks and build, and portrays the younger Bill Medley with enthusiasm and a real stage presence.
Brenden MacDonald portrays the younger Bobby Hatfield and his singing reaches every high note the well-known singer made famous. His love of performing is very evident and his brilliant smile will pull you in. But again, MacDonald is blond like Hatfield but much slimmer and taller than Lauff, which is very distracting for those of us who remember the duo wit the taller and slimmer Medley towered over the Hatfield.
My best advice is to close your eyes and experience their singing and I guarantee you will think the original duo are right there singing in the room.
After their hit “Justine,” The Righteous Brothers became regular singers on the TV series “Shindig” which taped in Los Angeles. I attended many of the sessions and remember my desire to be one of the Shindig Dancers, represented in this musical by three talents singers ((Nicole Renee Chapman, Amanda Dawn Harrison, and Brooke Van Grinsven) who strut their stuff in much too short sequined mini-skirts. I assure you, none of the real Shindig Dancers ever flashed their undies when they danced as these three women do. Costumer Angela M. Eads would do well to remember dancers outfits should allow them to move well without exposing too much flesh in a show such as this.
Patrick Burke has a nice turn as the iconic record producer Phil Spector who added his “Wall of Sound” technique to many of the duo’s iconic hits. What I did learn is that at the same time Spector was pursuing the duo, so was the Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Had Epstein been based in Los Angeles, who knows which way the duo would have gone?
Kudos to the musicians who really rock the house, Richard Levinson, Lance Crow, Bill Scott, Michael Teoli, and Robert Axelrod. Guitarist Bill Scott also portrays several other bit players in the show, mostly people who look after the duo when they are not performing onstage. Live music for the show is sponsored by F. Murray Abraham and Kate Abraham. By the finale, you will be encouraged to get up on your feet to sing and dance with the cast, and I encourage you to put your inhibitions aside and go with it.
The West Coast Premiere of That Lovin’ Feelin’ continues through Feb. 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood.
“After the Matinee: Talkback with cast and staff” on Jan. 17. General Admission ~ $25. seniors and students with ID ~ $20. Parties 10-plus ~ $15. Purchase Tickets: www.theGROUPrep.com. Reservations and Information: 818-763-5990. Shows do sell out so please pre-order your tickets.