Pin-Up Girls Salutes The Troops

The Pin-Up Girls: A Musical Love Letter
The Playhouse on Park
West Hartford
Through Dec. 23, 2023

There’s nothing like community theater.

I’ve had fun at the big, splashy musicals I’ve attended. It’s fun to marvel at moving set pieces and dozens of performers moving in sync. It’s great to witness how big-name properties are translated from the movie screen to the stage, and watch Tony-award winners give it their all.

But the community theater is where it’s at. Nothing matches the immediacy of seeing the performers ten feet away from you, or the energy of a packed room of people applauding. You become part of the performance when the actors interact with you. And you get to see tomorrow’s Tony-award winners as they hone their craft.

I thought about that when I saw the Thursday night preview of The Pin-Up Girls: A Musical Love Letter at the Playhouse on Park. It was my first time at the theater, and I loved the cozy feel of the building. The walls were covered with pinups from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, along with copies of real letters from soldiers across the ages.

The Pin-Up Girls is a musical of a musical. In the play’s world, performers Dana (Hillary Ekwall), Leanne (Olivia Fenton), Megan (Maggie Keene) and Joel (Christpher Rhodes), with Kevin (Kevin Barlowski) on piano, are the Pin-Up Girls: a group that performs shows based on letters to and from the front lines of America’s wars since World War I. Joel is standing in for his sister Sharon who usually rounds out the Pin-Up Girls, but she’s in labor during their performance. Sharon’s labor provides the plotting for what is otherwise a series of musical performances of letters from soldiers and their families.

Despite the potential heaviness of the material, the musical plays fast and light, taking full advantage of the performer’s energy and chemistry. In particular, Rhodes is used well for comedic effect, alternating between playing a wounded soldier who hilariously exaggerates his own bravery and several female characters his sister would’ve covered.

Still, when covering a topic as brutal as war, the musical pays due respect when it needs to.

The standout performances of the night came from acknowledging the pain and loss that are at the core of all wars. Midway through the play, Keene takes center stage and sings about bringing the soldiers home, a clarion call to not just bring home family members, but end war altogether.

Later in the play, Ekwall reads a letter for a soldier who won’t be returning. It’s a somber reminder that despite the hero worship we heap onto people who serve, they are not mythic beings. They are human beings who are blown to pieces by machines designed for that purpose, and their families are left behind.

Despite the name, The Pin-Up Girls never gets much raunchier than Megan flipping up her dress to show a little leg, which makes it a great musical for families. At a brisk 90 minutes, it shouldn’t stretch the attention span of children too far beyond the breaking point.

And it’s a fun time! At one point, the performers were dancing around the stage shaking jingle bells, and Fenton tapped my outstretched foot with her bells. It’s that kind of interaction (including others I won’t spoil) that makes community theater so enjoyable.