"Guitar Girls" in Sarasota (from Joan List)

[Timothy Spong]

Fellow JMDLers:

The following, posted Sunday on the Joan (Baez) List, which I read Monday in digest form, should be equally interesting to this Joni List:

Message Number: 25
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 12:25:07 -0800
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: "Guitar Girls" in FL

Anyone nearby able to get to this show?
It will be interesting to know which of Joan's songs is being used.
Dave

Guitar Girls

As it celebrates the achievements of female singer/songwriters, the musical
revue "Guitar Girls" also explores the way women's roles have changed in
America.

"The earliest songs in the show are about home and family and spirituality,"
said Dennis Courtney, who is directing the Florida Studio Theatre Cabaret
production that opens Thursday.

"The women were defined by their men, and how they felt about them. The later
songs reflect the breakup of the nuclear family, and the changing
relationships between men and women. Then, there's a real shift of
consciousness, with women beginning to own their individuality and power for
the first time."

Works by the Carter Family, the Weavers, Carol King, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez,
Joni Mitchell, the Dixie Chicks and Mary Chapin Carpenter are featured in the
show.


The song list includes "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," "If I Had a Hammer,"
"You've Got a Friend," "Jolene," "Mercedes Benz," and, naturally, Carpenter's
"Girls with Guitars."

Cast member Rhonda Coullet, who has appeared in such previous cabaret
productions as "Smoke on the Mountain" and "Harry Chapin and Friends," helped
conceive the show.

She is joined by three other singer/guitarists, Mimi Bessette, Emily Mikesell
and Stewart Gregory.

"Stewart provides the male perspective that is necessary in some of these
songs," said Courtney.

Laughing, Gregory said he was relieved to learn "I wouldn't be wearing heels
and a dress."

Courtney described all the cast members as "good musicians and actors who
have the life experience necessary for these songs. They have a real
understanding of the lyrics. They don't have to re-invent themselves to be
these people."

-- Charlie Husiking

"Guitar Girls" opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday following previews at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday in the Florida Studio Theatre Cabaret Club, 1241 N.
Palm Ave., Sarasota. Tickets range from $18-$22. Call 366-9000.


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