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excerpt from Ron Cohen's Broadway,
issue 65, Spring 2010, p.11

By RON COHEN

While indubitably straight, the five twangy Southern women in Good Ol' Girls don't have life much easier, judging by the plentitude of songs they sing about washed-up romances and men who got away. But they are certainly an entertaining crew, surprisingly so, for this not-the-greatest fan of country/western music. Their show is not much more than an amalgam of crafty tunes by Nashville songwriters Marshall Chapman and Matraca Berg, separated by an occasional monologue and even-rarer dialogue about their boyfriends, mothers, motherhood and jobs. The show was written by Paul Ferguson, based on stories by Jill McCorkle and Lee Smith.

It all adds up to an evening that could just tire your toes from tapping and your lips from smiling at the spunky and indomitable personas performing for you. They are Sally Mayes, Lauren Kennedy, Teri Ralston, Gina Stewart, and Liza Vann, all distinct personalities, but all in good voice and bouncy spirit. A four-piece band strategically placed behind a scrim with a map of some of our Southern states helps nicely to keep the music thumping, and under director Randall Myler everything moves at a comfortably happy pace. While there are a few lethargic moments, they are indeed few and brief. In the minature black box theatre in which it's playing until 11 April (2010), Good Ol' Girls is like attending an intimate down-home party with some of the town's liveliest women.

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