CREATOR
PLAYWRIGHT
PRODUCER
The Marvelous Wonderettes
Roger Bean
ROUTE 66
SH-BOOM! LIFE COULD BE A DREAM
SH-BOOM! A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
HONKY TONK LAUNDRY
WONDERETTES: DREAM ON
WINTER Wonderettes
THE ANDREWS BROTHERS
summer of love
Wonderettes: caps and gowns
WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE?
DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL!
Roger Bean
Creator
Playwright
Producer
Roger Bean created the smash off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes (over 1,200 performances Off-Broadway), along with the sequels Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, Winter Wonderettes, Wonderettes: Dream On, and the large-cast Wonderettes: Glee Club Edition. The original Los Angeles production of The Marvelous Wonderettes received the 2007 LA Ovation Award for Best Musical, and continues to be an audience favorite in regional and community theater companies throughout the country. Original cast albums for all Wonderettes shows are available from iTunes and Amazon. Mr. Bean's doo-wop hit musical Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream had a record-breaking 12-month run in Los Angeles, receiving the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the LA Weekly Theatre Award, and the Backstage Garland Award for Outstanding Musical.
Mr. Bean wrote and created the popular jukebox musicals Route 66, The Andrews Brothers, Summer of Love, Honky Tonk Laundry, Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, and the holiday sequel Sh-Boom! A Christmas Miracle, all currently available through Broadway Licensing Global. Additional musicals created by Mr. Bean include Don't Touch That Dial!, That's Amoré and Beach Blanket Bash. Mr. Bean has a proven track record in creating enduring, audience-pleasing musical franchises that help keep cash registers ringing in theaters across the country. His shows have had over 2,500 unique productions throughout the United States, Canada, and around the world.
Mr. Bean's work as a director and creator has been seen on the stages of Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, La Mirada Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Madison Rep, Capital Rep, Musical Theatre West, California Music Circus, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, San Diego Musical Theatre, Utah Musical Theatre, Skylight Opera, Northlight Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, San Jose Rep, as well as numerous commercial houses in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway.
Roger Bean Productions has been proud to be involved with Vanya, Sonia, Masha & Spike (Tony Award for Best Play, Broadway), The Marvelous Wonderettes (Off-Broadway, Touring & Regional), Annie (Broadway), A Night With Janis Joplin (Broadway), A Christmas Story (Tony Award Nominee, Broadway), Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream (Off-Broadway & Regional), and A Beautiful Noise (Broadway & First National Tour).
Mr. Bean is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
LOS ANGELES TIMES
THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES
ORIGINAL CAST, MILWAUKEE REP
THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES
OPENING NIGHT, LOS ANGELES
WINTER WONDERETTES
CAST ALBUM PHOTO SHOOT
DRAG WONDERETTES
STAGES THEATRE, HOUSTON
THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES
LOS ANGELES, OVATION AWARDS
WONDERETTES: DREAM ON
ORIGINAL CAST, STAGES THEATRE, HOUSTON
The Smash Off-Broadway Pop-Hit Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
This off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom where we meet the Wonderettes: four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! As we learn about their lives and loves, we are treated to the girls performing such classic ’50s and ’60s songs as “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,” “It’s My Party,” and over 20 other classic hits! You’ve never had this much fun at a prom and you will never forget The Marvelous Wonderettes—a must-take musical trip down memory lane! (4F)
“One irresistible musical! An utter charm bomb!” –The New York Times
“The fun never stops!” –Associated Press
“An expertly wrought showcase of pop music—it’s tremendously fun.” –Variety
“A laugh-a-minute song fest. Move over, Forever Plaid!” –Backstage
“It doesn’t get better than this!” –WOR Radio
“Deliciously enjoyable—wildly entertaining froth!” –Los Angeles Times
Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream
A Spectacular Salute to the Greatest Doo-Wop Hits of All Time
Written & Created by Roger Bean
SH-BOOM! Take another trip to Springfield and meet Denny and the Dreamers, a fledgling doo-wop singing group preparing to enter the Big Whopper Radio contest to realize their dreams of making it to the big time! Trouble comes in the form of Lois, who arrives to put some polish on the boys. Denny falls in love, Wally falls in line, Eugene falls apart, and along comes handsome heartthrob Skip to send the whole situation spinning. The '60s hits say it all: “Fools Fall in Love,” “Tears on My Pillow,” “Runaround Sue,” “Earth Angel,” “Stay,” “Unchained Melody,” “Lonely Teardrops,” and “The Glory of Love.” Winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, Sh-Boom! Life Could Be a Dream will leave you laughing, singing, and cheering—let’s hear it for the boys! (1F, 4M)
“Critic's Pick! Dream is so frothy, it floats.” –Los Angeles Times
”The title neatly sums up the euphoric charge generated by this feel-good musical.” –Backstage
New in 2024!
A Christmas Sequel to the Smash Doo-Wop Hit Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
It’s 1965 in this holiday sequel to the doo-wop hit Sh-Boom! Life Could Be A Dream. A few years back, Denny, Eugene, Wally & Duke achieved overnight fame when they won the Big Whopper Radio “Dream of a Lifetime Talent Search” as “Denny and the Dreamers.” Joined by Lois (former Springfield High School Songleader and now Duke’s wife), the group hit the big time and toured the country for a few years before breaking up over petty slights and grievances. Now, just in time for the holidays, the gang gets back together to perform again as a group for the Christmas Bazaar at Wally’s Church. Denny and Eugene won’t speak to each other, Duke and Lois are in the middle of a marital spat, and Wally is left to broker the peace for Christmas. Filled with great 60s doo-wop hits and holiday classics: “Nowhere To Run,” “Shop Around,” “The Tears Of A Clown,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “This Magic Moment,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Dance With Me,” Higher and Higher,” “Crying In The Chapel,” “Silent Night,” Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” and more! (1F, 4M)
A Boot-Scootin’ Salute to the Women of Country
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Move over, Thelma and Louise! When Lana Mae Hopkins, owner and proprietress of the Wishy Washy Washateria, hires Katie Lane to help out in the laundromat, they soon find themselves up to their elbows in soap, suds, and cheatin’ hearts. Watch these two country angels join forces to turn their good ol’ laundromat into a boot-scootin’ honky-tonk, exacting a touch of revenge against those that done ‘em wrong, and all while guaranteeing each and every customer a good, clean time! Take a ride to Nashville heaven in this down-south feel-good musical featuring the music of Reba McIntire, Carrie Underwood, Pam Tillis, The Chicks, Martina McBride, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn. (2F)
“Terrific!” –Los Angeles Times • “Wonderful!” –Stage and Cinema
“Effervescent!” –StageSceneLA • “Delightful!” –Theatre Spoken Here
“Heartwarming!” –The LA Beat • “Bravo!” –BroadwayWorld
A Madcap Musical Salute to the Swinging '40s
Written & Created by Roger Bean
A USO show is threatened with cancellation when a certain famous trio of singing sisters fails to appear, and it’s up to three earnest and determined stagehands to go on with the show! The Andrews Brothers is filled to the brim with over 25 songs made famous by the Andrews Sisters, including the showstoppers “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.” Mistaken identities and madcap adventures—imagine Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in a road movie of “Some Like It Hot”—along with the music of an entire generation highlight this wonderful valentine to the heroes of World War II. (1F, 3M)
“No-holds-barred goofiness!” –Los Angeles Times
“A real cascade of physical comedy and slapstick.” –EasyReaderNews
“Top notch and entertaining beyond words.” –BroadwayWorld
The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On
A '60s and '70s Sequel to the Smash Off-Broadway Hit Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
It’s 1969 and The Marvelous Wonderettes are back at Springfield High (Go Chipmunks!) to throw a retirement party for their favorite homeroom teacher. As the girls sing their way through the greatest girl-group hits of the 60s and bid Miss McPherson a fond farewell, one of the Wonderettes reveals she’ll also be saying goodbye to search for success and happiness on her own. Act two finds the girls back together as the class of 1958 celebrates their 20-year reunion. The classic pop and rock hits of the seventies provide the perfect soundtrack for these old friends to catch up on the places life has led them, all performed with their own marvelous spin! Featuring "Gimme Some Lovin," "I've Got The Music In Me," "I Will Survive," "Don't Leave Me This Way," "The Hustle," "Come In From the Rain," "We Are Family," "Superstar," "I Am Woman," and many more! (4F)
“Marvelous and wonderful! These girls know how to throw a party.” –Houston Chronicle
“Simply bullet-proof – charming, silly and wonderful!” –BroadwayWorld
The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns
A '50s and '60s Sequel to the Smash Off-Broadway Hit Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
We’re back in 1958, and it’s time for the Wonderettes to graduate in this delightful sequel to the smash off-Broadway hit! Join Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy as they sing about their final year in high school, celebrate with their fellow classmates and teachers, and prepare for their next step toward a bright future. Act Two zooms ahead to 1968, where the girls perform as bride and bridesmaids to celebrate Missy’s marriage to Mr. Lee! Featuring “Rock Around the Clock,” “At the Hop,” “Dancing in the Street,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and 25 more hits, Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns will have your audience cheering for more! (4F)
“Delightful and nostalgic – a guaranteed good time!” –BroadwayWorld
“What transforms Bean’s work from a mere revue into something more substantial is the
deft way he develops character and uses songs to describe their problem of situation.” –The Orange County Register
A '60s Holiday Sequel to the Smash Off-Broadway Hit
Written & Created by Roger Bean
The Marvelous Wonderettes are back! This seasonal celebration finds the girls entertaining at the annual Harper’s Hardware Holiday Party. When Santa turns up missing, the girls use their talent and creative ingenuity to save the holiday party! Featuring great 60s versions of holiday classics such as “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Suzy Snowflake,” “Run, Rudolph, Run,” and “Winter Wonderland,” the result is, of course, marvelous! This energetic and glittering holiday package is guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages. (4F)
“A scrumptious confection!” –Backstage
“The perfect Christmas revue! Crackles with energy and joy!” –LA Weekly
“A delightfully escapist musical revue.” –Los Angeles Times
“A musical holiday feast!” –Delaware News Journal
A flexible-casting version for this off-Broadway smash hit!
Written & Created by Roger Bean
This all-new version of the show combines the first act of The Marvelous Wonderettes with the first act of the sequel Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, adding additional characters from the Springfield High Chipmunk Glee Club (any number of boys or girls you need) to create a truly flexible large-cast version of this perennial favorite. We begin at the 1958 Springfield High School Senior Prom, where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! As we learn about their lives, loves, and friendships, the girls serenade us with classic ’50s hits as they compete for prom queen. Act II zooms ahead to graduation day for the Class of 1958, and the Wonderettes celebrate with their fellow classmates and teachers as they prepare for their next step toward a bright future. (4F +)
“One irresistible musical! An utter charm bomb!” –The New York Times
“The fun never stops!” –Associated Press
A Cross-Country, High Energy Musical Revue
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Take a dollop of Grease, mix in some Pump Boys and Dinettes and add a generous dose of Forever Plaid and you've got the high-octane fun of Route 66! Beginning with the sounds of 1950s Chicago and traveling along the “Main Street of America” to the California coast with the surf music of the 1960s, this exciting musical revue features 34 of the greatest “Rock ‘n’ Road” hits of the 20th century! Songs include “Dead Man's Curve,” “King of the Road,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Beep Beep,” “Six Days on the Road,” “Little GTO,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and many more. Get your kicks with this smash coast-to-coast hit musical revue! (4M +)
“A toe-tapping, hand-clapping, laugh-out-loud treat!” –The Wichita Eagle
“Bright, sassy and bursting with nonstop energy!” –San Antonio Express News
“Fast-paced, energetic and fun!” –Aisle Say, San Francisco
“Route 66 is like Forever Plaid on high-octane fuel!” –Milwaukee Metro
A '60s Celebration of the Love Generation
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Another smash hit musical from the creator of The Marvelous Wonderettes! When a conservative runaway bride discovers the countercultural revolution of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, the hippies and dropouts of Golden Gate Park teach her to live her life to the fullest! This hippie, trippy musical features the powerful music of the late 1960s by some of the most influential artists of the love generation: The Mamas and the Papas, Donovan, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and many more. With such hits as “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “War,” “One Tin Soldier,” “Spinning Wheel,” and, of course, “San Francisco,” you’ll love this flower power, feel-good musical experience! (6F, 6M +)
“Critic’s Pick! A fun-filled journey with a to-die-for score!” –Backstage
“Pure perfection! Foot stomping standing-ovations!” –Portland Daily Sun
“A sweet and creamy treat!” –Stage and Cinema
A Rockin' '60s Bachelorette Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Millie’s getting married! At her impromptu bachelorette party, Millie and her best friends dive into age-old questions about love, marriage, and the overwhelming dating game. As the celebration picks up steam and the drinks flow, the girls reveal scintillating secrets about their love lives as they poke fun and challenge each other to take control of their lives. Featuring smash pop-hits from the 1960s such as “My Boy Lollipop,” “I Will Follow Him,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Hey There Lonely Boy,” this uplifting show reaffirms that during life’s struggles, true friendship will unveil its everlasting strength—and often with a real rockin’ beat! (4F)
“Funny, infectious and winning!” –Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“Enchanting and delightful!” –Ravalli Republic
“A tasty little musical confection.” –Bellows Falls Town Crier, VT
“If Sex and the City were a 1960s musical, this would be it!” –Summit Daily News
Don’t Touch That Dial!
A TV Theme Song Game Show Extravaganza
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Don’t Touch That Dial! is a tribute to golden oldie television show theme songs set in a wild and exciting game show format. At the start, our hero Brian settles into his easy chair for a relaxing evening in front of the boob-tube. When the television takes on a life of its own, our hero is propelled into a fantastical game show where he and his fellow onstage contestants sing and act out their childhood television memories in a battle of wits and television knowledge. Each spin of the dial sends the contestants into a new category, where they must demonstrate their proficiency (and sing their answers!) to gain points in a game show in which the explanation of the rules is always just out of reach. Brian is so successful at this wacky adventure that he secures the grand prize and wins his very own game show! With Brian as the new host, the tables are turned topsy-turvy, and the audience members now become the players in the game-show-within-a-game-show. With the help of the other contestants as sidekicks and co-hosts, Brian quizzes the audience in a fast-paced and pun-filled trivia game show, eventually crowning a winner from the audience and bringing them onstage to perform with the cast. Frenetic, rapid-fire sight gags and affection for the target keep this musical game show humming along at a super-human pace! (2M, 2F)
Drag Wonderettes
An New Drag Extravaganza based on the Smash Off-Broadway Pop-Hit Musical
Written & Created by Roger Bean
The drag queens from the House of Amanda decorate the local Elks Lodge Banquet Hall in high drag eleganza, transforming it into an effervescent over-the-top version of the fifties and sixties for their annual gala musical production. With most of the original script of The Marvelous Wonderettes intact (with the queens singing live throughout the show), backstage drama creeps onstage as the queens’ real-life struggles mirror the onstage drama of the fictional Wonderettes. The evening’s magical bonus: a mega-mix finale curtain call, recreating the full techno-sound of a late-night club, complete with disco lights, stage haze and a final burst of rainbow confetti. This fierce ‘third act’ lets our queens werk the house down in a Finale Extravaganza for the gods! (4F +)
“A whole new level of fabulous!” –Out Smart Magazine
“Moving and wildly funny!” –Houston Press
“Drag Wonderettes delivers sass, lots of heart, and even bigger hair!” –Houston Life
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Cover Girls
The Original All-Girl Boy-Band Cover Band
Written & Created by Roger Bean
The Cover Girls were the world’s preeminent boy-band cover band — as big as some of the actual boy bands they covered. All-girl boy-band cover bands fell out of fashion in the aughts, and with four of the five members striking out on fizzled solo careers, the Cover Girls quickly dropped into obscurity. Now coming back together to make their big reunion tour (well, a nicely paid gig at a wedding reception), old squabbles race forward to trip up their triumphant return to the spotlight. Some live instruments (hand percussion, guitar) played live onstage, featuring boy-band pop-hits in imaginative all-new arrangements. (5F, 1M)
Lana Mae’s Honky Tonk Christmas
A Boot-Scootin’ Country Christmas
Written & Created by Roger Bean
This is the much-anticipated Christmas sequel to Honky Tonk Laundry, with a cast of three (Lana Mae, Katie Lane, and Lana Mae’s new boy toy). The Wishy Washy Washeteria has come on hard times. Forced to take out a loan to buy ex-husband Earl out of his half of the house and laundromat, Lana Mae soon discovers that the payments on the loan are far more than her fluff ’n’ fold laundry business brings in. Faced with the prospect of being forced to sell her beloved laundromat, Lana Mae and Katie decide to throw a Christmas Honky Tonk Fundraisin' Pledge-a-Palooza to keep the lights on. Everything is on the line, and everyone is welcome to the Honky Tonk Laundry for a countrified Christmas celebration both hilarious and heartwarming. (2F, 1M)
Beyond Jupiter
A modern tale of mythic proportions
Written & Created by Roger Bean
Set in mythical Mount Olympus, using modern pop music to tell the previously unknown tale of JUPITER and his son, MARS. When we join them on Mt. Olympus, everything seems to be going extremely well for JUPITER and his wife JUNO. JUPITER is set to retire, ready to give the kingdom to his eldest son MARS once he turns 18. Things go slightly topey-turvy when MARS decides to “come forth” and bring his boyfriend VENUS to his uncle BACCHUS' annual Bacchanalia. After much ado, JUPITER banishes MARS from the heavens. Feeling bereft and humiliated, MARS leaves VENUS and descends to Earth, finding support and solace with BACCHUS (in his earthly vacation home on Mykonos). Upset with JUPITER for failing to support their son, JUNO confronts JUPITER, finally storming out to find MARS and bring him back to Mt. Olympus. Urged on by his sister JUNO, BACCHUS makes a visit to JUPITER, and reminds JUPITER that he himself “came forth” in his youth, only to be stymied by his own father, Saturn. BACCHUS helps convince JUPITER to call back his son, eliminate all godly graces of the banishment, and hereby make MARS and VENUS a ruling couple in Mount Olympus. A new Bacchanalia begins, and merriment ensues. (5F, 5M)
"It's the perfect time
for a big dose of Roger Bean"
“Roger writes ensemble shows,” says Bets Malone, an original Wonderette. “Everyone’s passing a basketball all night. If it's all going well, the actors are functioning as musical instruments.”
"Roger Bean's career proves that there's
theatrical life beyond New York City."
"Roger Bean has made a name for himself,
molding golden oldies into marvelous musicals."
"Seems like you can't walk into a regional theater these days
without tripping over a Wonderette."
“Bean is forging a successful theater career by creating
light-hearted musicals featuring some of the greatest hits
(as well as an occasional obscure flip side) from the era of
duck tails, coonskin caps and poodle skirts.”
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