{"id":235544,"date":"2012-04-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/respect-through-history\/"},"modified":"2012-04-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-27T07:00:00","slug":"respect-through-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/respect-through-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Respect through history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Musical journey highlights social progress through song lyrics<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Respect<\/a>
(l to r) Lisa H. Payton, Leigh Scarritt, Kelsey Venter and Nancy Snow Carr (Photo by Ken Jacques)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Bart Mendoza | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has long been known that music can be an instrument of change, recording history and social mores as they happen. Nowhere is that more clear than in the production \u201cRespect: A Musical Journey of Women,\u201d running though June 24 at the Lyceum Theatre. Created by Dorothy Marcic, the play is based on her book \u201cRESPECT: Women and Popular Music,\u201d which analyzes female lyrics in hit songs since 1900.<\/p>\n

First staged in Florida in 2004, \u201cRespect\u201d utilizes a soundtrack from 60 classic songs in less than two hours, spanning 1902\u2019s \u201cWon\u2019t You Come Home Bill Bailey\u201d to Martina McBride\u2019s 2003 song, \u201cIn My Daughters Eyes.\u201d The selections give a timeline for the changes that took place in women\u2019s lives during the 20th century. From relationship adjustments to political and social upheaval, it is all here, packed with humor, fun and great music.<\/p>\n

Directed by Sarah Shahinian, \u201cRespect\u201d features Nancy Snow Carr, Lisa H. Payton and Kelsey Venter, with Leigh Scarritt as the narrator, backed by a four-piece band. Shahinian has been involved with the play\u2019s production for several years, beginning in 2009 as its assistant director at the Act II Playhouse in Ambler, Penn. Now in her fourth year with the show, Shahinian said she is still enthusiastic about the show\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just spectacular the way the author has broken down the evolution of women using popular music,\u201d Shahinian said. \u201cSo much is covered here. For the play\u2019s author, it started out with \u2018Someone to Watch Over Me.\u2019 Literally, it\u2019s from a time when a woman had no place if she didn\u2019t have a husband, so you needed someone to watch over you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahinian said showstoppers can be different from performance to performance. \u201cThere are three big medley\u2019s in the first act that usually get a big response,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to pinpoint, but \u2018I Will Survive\u2019 always gets a good reaction and so does the Vicki Carr song, \u2018It Must Be Him,\u2019 which closes the first half.\u201d<\/p>\n

With so many well-known tunes in the set, it is impossible for the audience to not join in the music, and Shahinian said she is OK with that. \u201cWe want everyone to sing along. We want everyone to have a good time,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve directed the show in such a way that, hopefully, the women who come to see the show feel like they\u2019re just having a chat with the ladies on stage [and] that they\u2019re inviting [the audience] into a conversation rather than just watching a presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scarritt, a long time theatre veteran whose credits include productions of everything from \u201cEvita\u201d to \u201cHigh School Musical,\u201d said that while the show has a specific theme, it is entertaining for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a show for women,\u201d Scarritt said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great show, especially for men who love women and men who love music.\u201d Scarritt\u2019s songs during the show include Christina Aguilera\u2019s 2002 hit, \u201cBeautiful,\u201d and she said she gives most of the credit for making this production popular to her co-stars. \u201cThe director has really gathered an amazing company,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cThe women she has hired are spectacular musicians and performers. I think they\u2019re terrific at their craft and they make my job [as narrator] easy because all I have to do is say, \u2018that was lovely; let\u2019s do another one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For her part, Shahinian said she is pleased to tell the story of women\u2019s struggles and triumphs in \u201cRespect,\u201d but is also happy to be shining light on words in popular music. \u201cI hope the audience leaves humming the songs they know and love, but [also] walks away [with] a new understanding of what the lyrics really mean,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you put them into context like this, it points out how powerful they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRespect: A Musical Journey of Women\u201d plays a 10-week engagement at The Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza. Show times are Wednesdays at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $42 to $57. For more information and to purchase tickets visit lyceumevents.com or call 619-544-1000.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Musical journey highlights social progress through song lyrics By Bart Mendoza | Downtown News It has long been known that music can be an instrument of change, recording history and social mores as they happen. Nowhere is that more clear than in the production \u201cRespect: A Musical Journey of Women,\u201d running though June 24 at […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Respect through history","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}