“Know that Betty Crocker believes in you.”
Those words emerged from radios throughout America within the Twenties, offering support to women discouraged at the standard of their cooking and baking skills. With Betty Crocker’s helpful suggestions, often isolated homemakers got here to feel a part of an expansive community of girls sharing similar experiences.
But Betty Crocker didn’t exist. She was a fictitious creation of the Minneapolis-based Washburn-Crosby Company, a flour miller that soon merged with competitors to form General Mills (after establishing a radio station, WCCO, partially in an effort to get this kitchen companion’s words on the air).
So how did a Minnesota-based company manage to make this imaginary character the second-most-popular woman in America next to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, in accordance with a 1945 poll? The reply may be present in “I Am Betty,” a pleasant latest musical currently premiering on the History Theatre.
With a century’s price of musical styles and a large number of vividly drawn characters expertly executed by a talented nine-woman solid and a flexible four-piece band, “I Am Betty” is a tremendously entertaining whirlwind tour of American women’s changing roles over the course of Betty Crocker’s first 100 years, 1921 to 2021.
The ambitious vision of playwright Cristina Luzarraga has found its ideal match within the restless musical imagination of composer Denise Prosek, their creation crafted right into a delicious theatrical concoction under the guidance of director Maija Garcia and choreographer Renee Guittar.
So can you actually compress a century of history right into a two-hour-and-45-minute musical, especially one with as broad a mission as conveying the evolution of an American woman’s role in households and society? Are you able to cram into one rating almost every popular music style between ragtime and arena rock? And may this really be done with a solid of just nine women?
The reply is yes to the entire above. Key to the story not growing too unwieldy is that every act focuses chiefly upon the journey of 1 particular woman. In the primary act, it’s Marjorie Child Husted, the promotion-savvy powerhouse who not only led the General Mills test kitchens, but made the Betty Crocker brand ubiquitous via national radio broadcasts, cookbooks and Hollywood promoting tie-ins.
Erin Capello makes Marjorie the consummate charismatic profession woman, earning the respect of her team but having a tough time balancing Betty’s success together with her own desire for love and marriage (kudos to Olivia Kemp as her convincing love interest). Capello not only nails the show’s best belter of a pop ballad (“Something More”), but is a key element within the period-perfect “boogie” numbers that commemorate latest products, evoking acts from the Andrews Sisters to the Pointer Sisters.
Within the second act, we follow Barbara Jo Davis, who grew up wanting to be Betty Crocker, had a 20-year profession in the corporate’s test kitchens, and eventually became the matriarch of Ken Davis BBQ Sauce. (Their “Simmer and Wait” duet is a fun faux Marvin Gaye seduction ballad.) Lynnea Doublette brings engaging energy to this trailblazing African-American businesswoman, who raises some thought-provoking questions during an imagined debate with feminist Betty Friedan.
By evening’s end, you’ve not only learned so much concerning the food business (and the sexism historically ingrained into it), but have experienced probably the most enjoyable original musicals to have hit a Twin Cities stage previously several years.
‘I Am Betty’
When: Through Dec. 23
Where: History Theatre, 30 E. tenth St., St. Paul
Tickets: $74-$15, available at 651-292-4323 or historytheatre.com.
Capsule: History Theatre has baked up something delicious for the vacations.
— Rob Hubbard may be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.