‘Beaches’ Brings Lifelong Friendship to Broadway

Broadway’s ‘Beaches’ offers powerhouse vocals and a classic tale of lifelong friendship, but the musical struggles to find emotional depth.

Zeya Grace and Samantha Schwartz as Little Bertie and Little Cee Cee in "Beaches." Marc J. Franklin

NEW YORK CITY—Marriages may come and go, but friendships last forever. This is the core message of the new Broadway musical “Beaches,” based on the novel by Iris Rainer Dart. It inspired the 1988 movie of the same name. The show explores the 30-plus-year friendship between the outgoing and brassy Cee Cee Bloom (Jessica Vosk) and the quiet, conservative Bertie White (Kelli Barrett).

The two first meet as children on the beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1951. Little Cee Cee (Samantha Schwartz), a show business veteran decked out in garish attire for an upcoming performance, befriends the shy Little Bertie (Zeya Grace), who is captivated by Cee Cee’s worldly attitude. Their mothers, respectively Leona (Sarah Bockel) and Rose (Lael Van Keuren), ultimately pull them apart, showcasing the contrasting outlooks instilled in their daughters.

Leona is a cut-rate Momma Rose (of “Gypsy” fame), determined to make her daughter a star, while Rose dismisses the Blooms as lower class and maps out her child’s future from school to marriage.

Kelli Barrett (C) and the cast of "Beaches," a new musical. Marc J. Franklin