A Mod-erately pleasant surprise

Every once in a while, I'll get tickets to a show -- either a comp or through a friend -- that I really expect to be terrible. Usually, I'm right. I was lucky enough to see the so-bad-it's-good train wreck "In My Life" at the end of last year and unlucky enough to see the poorly written dance frenzy "Hot Feet" a few months ago, which earned the distinction of the only show bad enough to force me to walk out at intermission. Then there's the occasional pleasant surprise, such as "Lestat," which I thought was certainly flawed but nowhere near as bad as everyone made it out to be.

My expectations were not much better for "Shout! The Mod Musical," the latest entry in the jukebox musical ledger which is now playing at the Julia Miles Theatre, 424 W. 55th St. Fortunately, however, this one fell largely into the latter category. Reviews have been pretty bad across the board, but while I could see the reviewers' points when I saw the show last night, I found a few things to enjoy about this one.

The thin book follows five women as they stand at the brink of the women's liberation movement throughout the 1960s. They're identified only by the colors they wear: the stylish Blue Girl (Marie-France Arcilla); the Beatles-obsessed, American Yellow Girl (Erin Crosby); the domestically inclined Orange Girl (Julie Dingman Evans); the, er, promiscuous Green Girl (Erica Schroeder) and the frumpy Red Girl (Casey Clark, filling in for an absent Denise Summerford). We learn the girls' stories through brief monologues and the occasional letter seeking advice from columnist Gwendolyn Holmes (a pre-recorded Carole Shelley), whose advice for women to better their lives through a new hairstyle or a shopping spree would make Phyllis Schlafly blush.

The women's journey has the subtlety of a Lifetime movie, and although there are a few funny and even genuine moments, the cliches abound. No matter. As usually is the case with a jukebox musical, it's the music that's the star here. In this case, it's the peppy music from the repertoire of stars like Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield. Not all of it always makes sense with the point the show is trying to make -- "Goldfinger" pops up after the girls get their first taste of marijuana -- but what the hell. I happen to like songs like "Downtown" and "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," and the expendable book didn't get in the way of my enjoyment of those songs.

The actresses are more than capable of selling these songs, too. Arcilla and Schroeder were the standouts, as well as understudy Casey Clark. A few of the songs veered too heavily into the embellished American Idol style, particular AI mainstay "Son Of A Preacher Man," but those proved to be the exception rather than the rule.

Overall, I would recommend the show for those who can meet the following conditions:
a) Get discount tickets. Full price is a bit much on this one, and considering we were the only ones on our row, they shouldn't be hard to come by.
b) Have at least a rudimentary appreciation of the music. For anyone who's not a fan of the musical era, the show would be excruciating.
c) Have a great companion to accompany you, as I did.