Synopsis
As a teenage member of the Jivettes during the late 1950s, Ellie dreams of hearing her songs played on the radio, but her plans are put on the back burner by a mother who insists she finish high school and pursue a degree in education so she'll have a means of supporting herself. While attending Queens College, she finds work in the music industry's temple, Manhattan's Brill Building, where she meets Gus Sharkey (a thinly-veiled caricature of Phil Spector) and fellow aspiring songwriter Jeff Barry. After a whirlwind courtship, the two wed and begin to churn out hits for the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Shangri-Las, Darlene Love, Connie Francis, and Lesley Gore, among others. In 1965, at the pinnacle of their partnership, Jeff wants to start a family, whereas Ellie would rather keep working than settle down as a housewife/mother, so he divorces her. They remain professional partners for another year, but when her ex-husband remarries, Ellie falls into a downward spiral of depression and eventually suffers a nervous breakdown. The show then fast-forwards to the mid-1980s, showing off a self-confident and successful Ellie who is in control of her life.
Musical Numbers
Act I
Be My Baby
Wait 'til My Bobby Gets Home
A . . . My Name Is Ellie
Jivette Boogie Beat
Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts
Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry
I Wanna Love Him So Bad
Do Wah Diddy
And Then He Kissed Me
Hanky Panky
Not Too Young To Get Married
Chapel Of Love
The Songwriter's Medley
Act II
Baby I Love You
Leader of the Pack
Look of Love
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
I Can Hear Music
Rock of Rages
Keep It Confidential
Da Doo Ron Ron
What a Guy
Maybe I Know
River Deep, Mountain High
We're Gonna Make It After All
