The Drifters Girl is a musical that chronicles the ground-breaking efforts of the first African American female music manager in history and how she steadfastly stood by the band she adored - The Drifters. The musical tells the Drifters' story and focuses on Faye Treadwell's struggles in her career.
The Drifters Girl (Faye) co-managed the group with her husband until his passing. With her incisive business sense and unwavering tenacity, Faye broke the rules, altered the rules, took up music management, and helped the band achieve greatness.
At the beginning of the show, four of the most beautiful voices you will ever hear enter one at a time as the lights go out. As we were treated to a mini-concert of joyfully appealing Drifters tunes, the band began to play, the lights came up and the harmonies erupted.
The Drifter's Girl, played by Felicia Boswell, wooed the audience by bringing to life a range of emotions like sadness during moments of death, war, and prejudice during the civil rights struggle. The audience rocked back and forth as the Drifters took us through their unquestionably iconic and charismatic discography, which included the instantly recognizable and beloved songs "Saturday Night at the Movies" and "You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book."
One could easily tell Boswell was truly exceptional at portraying Faye in as she did so in a thoroughly entertaining and engaging performance. She had a fiery presence and a powerful voice that echoed out in the auditorium's rear. Although it may be argued that the show relies a little too heavily on its impressive song list to move the plot along, Boswell and the supporting cast invited the audience to sit back and unwind near effortlessly.
There was a memorable scene which, though played for laughs, in which a string of local British hotel employees turn Faye away due to her race. The cast played more to the ridiculous accents than the bigotry in a fun way. Even though the event was horrifying, we found ourselves clapping and laughing especially when the song "Come on over" played during that scene.
Faye came out as fleshed out and that seemed mainly rooted in some impressively zinging one-liners as she shot down a succession of misogynists and business rivals.
The Drifters Girl was hands down the very best show I'd seen in a while! Beverley and the boys were simply amazing! The ensemble worked really hard with several, wonderful roles, and there were some very smart set uses of age.
There's no denying that Faye Treadwell was and will always be The Drifters Girl, and this great musical left no shred of doubt about that. Whether you enjoy The Drifters' music or not, you'll certainly enjoy the show!
