The Bikinis - Creative Vision

By Ray Roderick, Co-Creator and Director

I want to thank Goodspeed Musicals for producing The Bikinis this summer.  It is truly a dream for all of us—creative team, actors, musicians—to continue to develop this new musical that celebrates women, lifelong friendship, and summer fun with a theatre that delivers so much to its audiences and always supports the creative process on every show it brings to the stage.

We wanted to write The Bikinis because we simply love the music and the time…pop and rock and roll from the 60’s and the 70’s, a time when our country was growing up…coming of age!  We thought it would be exciting to hear the great songs of this generation sung by women who grew up with these songs, have something to say, and know how to say it.  And so we created The Bikinis, a one-hit-wonder girl group (two sisters, a cousin, and their best friend), who got their start singing down on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. And now, all grown up, as they hit the stage, they relive their coming of age and summers of fun.  And so do we, hearing songs we know and love from a new point of view—songs like “It’s in His Kiss,” “Heat Wave,” “Be My Baby,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Time of The Season,” “Dedicated to the One I Love,” “Simple Song of Freedom,” “When Will I Be Loved,” “Midnight Blue,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Last Dance,” and many more.

It is such a joy, in a show like The Bikinis, to work with women who have so much to offer.  They bring to our theatrical table a lifetime of experience.  And, like The Bikinis, they remind us all, that every day can be a new beginning!

Here’s to summer fun at Goodspeed and The Bikinis!