By Paul Hodgins
OC RegisterNovember 25, 2009Over the last few years, Roger Bean's life has been pretty much taken over by four modestly talented female singers who call themselves the Wonderettes.
Bean, a playwright and director, admits that he spends more time than he ever imagined dealing with his fictional creations, who hail from Springfield (Bean chose that hometown because it's the most common name for an American city – he wants the Wonderettes to be from nowhere and everywhere).
"In the last couple of years, my life has mostly been taken up with Wonderettes-related stuff," said Bean, who has spent several weeks preparing "Winter Wonderettes" for a production at the Laguna Playhouse, where it opens Nov. 28. "Recently there have been 'Wonderette' shows in New York and Chicago and Florida and Hawaii."
Last year, local audiences got their first taste of the winsome foursome when the original incarnation of the show, "The Marvelous Wonderettes," played at the Laguna Playhouse.
The Wonderettes are catty, vindictive, backbiting and blithely egotistical. They're also the best of friends who have been performing as close-harmony singers since high school.
The group consists of Missy, the prim, level-headed one, easily the quartet's most talented singer; Cindy Lou, a statuesque beauty with a sultry delivery and that annoying sense of entitlement beautiful people exude; excitable Betty Jean, whose got some creative differences with Cindy Lou; and Suzy, a gum-chewing, lovable bimbo who has a budding romance going with Richie, the guy who runs the show's lights and isn't afraid of demonstrating his luminous love from the tech booth.
"Winter Wonderettes" is a sequel of sorts to "The Marvelous Wonderettes," which begins in 1958 when the four girls are still in high school and ends 10 years later, when life has started to deliver its tribulations and rewards.
"'Winter Wonderettes' takes place about six months after the first play ends," Bean said. "There's a little bit of movement that's happened. You find out that Missy, who got proposed to onstage, has been married. Richie is married to Suzy. She's had twins and she's pregnant again. She's turning into a baby factory."
The story is set in Harper's Hardware, where Betty Jean has worked since high school. The Wonderettes have transformed the drab place into a Yuletide-themed wonderland. Mr. Harper is due to appear at the end of the evening as Santa Claus, as he does every year to hand out everyone's eagerly anticipated Christmas bonus envelope.
But this year, Harper is a no-show. Betty Jean runs off to find him but comes back with the envelopes instead. Everyone opens them to discover not cash but pink slips. Harper's Hardware is closing its doors forever.
"I think everyone will really identify with that part of the show this year," said Bean, who penned "Winter Wonderettes" back in 2003 when unemployment was far less of an issue than it is today.
Bean is quick to reassure us that things aren't as dire as they appear. It was never his intention to delve into heavy issues with the Wonderettes franchise.
"I wanted to steer clear of the weightier things happening at the time. Getting into the Vietnam War, for example, would have been too rough for this little jukebox world I created."
One hallmark of Bean's shows is his use of period music, both popular and obscure, to define the Wonderettes' style and help tell their stories. "Winter Wonderettes" contains traditional Christmas carols, midcentury pop songs that everyone knows and a few not-so-familiar tunes as well: "The Man With the Bag," "Run, Rudolph, Run," "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day" and "Suzy Snowflake."
"I go through a lot of songs when I put these shows together," Bean said. "I listen to them over and over, and stories begin to take shape. I think, 'I'd love to have this song in the show. Whose story does it fit into?' After many listenings the solution will come to me about how the songs could be part of somebody's story line."
Bean once thought that the success of the Wonderettes would give him a certain amount of free time. No such luck.
"I run my own licensing company now, which looks after the Wonderettes as well as three other shows that are my own. Every once in a while I find a short period to write something new. But the more success I have the busier I get. I used to think, 'When I get to a certain level of success I'll be able to do whatever I want.' But once you create something like this, you spend a lot of your time maintaining it."
One warm night four children stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from. Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny are orphaned and in danger of being sent to different foster homes. The four siblings run away and make their home in an abandoned railroad boxcar. Pursued by the authorities and a mysterious stranger, the children discover the rewards and perils of life on the run, as well as the joy of keeping their family together. 
