Suddenly, the doors of opportunity opened wide to female rock artists who had been waiting in the wings for their turn.  The early sixties were engulfed in a tidal wave of  “girl group” music:  the infectious shoo-be-do-wop-wop backbeat of the Chiffons, the gospel-hued tones of a young Patti LaBelle and her Bluebelles, the raucous, tough-girl rage of the Angels, the street-wise psychodrama of the Shangri-Las and the smooth, sophisticated sound of the most successful of the girl groups, the Supremes. 

Female solo artists flourished as well, including middle-class suburban-sound Lesley Gore, plaintive balladeer Connie Francis and country-crossover Brenda Lee along with their British invader cousins, Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield, solidifying the unmistakable stamp of women on ‘60s rock. 

As the decade waned, the female sound in rock matured from teenage angst to the powerful adult, sensuous stylings of Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin.  By the end of the decade female rockers had earned their place in the history of rock, and in it’s future, gaining, at last, what they lacked in 1960:  R-E-S-P-E-C-T! 

Of course, there are behind-the-scenes horror stories of mismanagement, maltreatment and ruined lives, but those are, perhaps, subjects for other plays.  Tonight we celebrate the glory of the female sounds of the ‘60s. 

We are blessed with a phenomenally talented cast who are fully prepared to knock your socks off. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be the rock-em, shock-em, knock-em for a shoop-shoop ride of your life!