A toe-tapping musical revue is playing in the Court Cabaret at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota through June 21st. It celebrates musical artists who gave us a single, chart-topping hit. The show is called "One Hit Wonders."
Part of the fun with a show like "One Hit Wonders" is discovering which musicians made the list.
One artist who is included in the show is Bobby McFarrin. His big hit, "Don't Worry, Be Happy," topped the charts and become one of the most well-known one-hit wonders of all time.
Producing Director Catherine Randazzo names another.
"'American Pie' is really Don McLean's only big hit," Randazzo added. "He really didn't have anything else. So, when you start throwing all those songs together in one show, it takes you on a journey of why was that one song just it and why couldn't they do anything else? What made that one song so popular? And I think it also triggers a certain curiosity in terms of, OK, well, who else?"
In most cases, people remember the song but not necessarily the artist. Like "My Sharona," not The Knack. "Tainted Love," not Soft Cell. And "Spirit in the Sky," not Norman Greenbaum.
Randazzo says Florida Studio Theatre is also featuring some modern one-hit wonders.
"We take it all the way to the most recent decade."
But if you want to know who else made the list, you'll just have to see the show.
"One Hit Wonders" is quirky, charming and just goes to show that sometimes, one hit is all you need.
MORE INFORMATION:
"One Hit Wonders" is a celebration of those unforgettable songs that lit up the charts and became part of our lives one time. From the epic storytelling of "American Pie" to the carefree whistle of "Don't Worry, Be Happy," this show celebrates the artists who gave us a single great hit.
The revue closes out FST's winter cabaret season.
It opened Feb.11 and runs through June 21.
It is performed in Florida Studio Theatre's Court Cabaret.
This week's performances are already sold out.
For tickets later in the run, telephone 941-366-9000 or visit https://ticketing.floridastudiotheatre.org/en/production/74334?_gl=1*7g5sc4*_gcl_au*MTQ3MzI5MzQyOC4xNzcwNTg5NTc3.
Some one-hit wonders that may or may not be in the show
Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" didn't quite make it to No. 1. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it was Greenbaum's greatest and only hit. Released in the 1970s, it is a combo of garage-rock distortion, boogie and blues in a mainstream church song. Greenbaum would never make another hit song. He quit music in the 1980s and later become a sous-chef in a restaurant.
The Archies bubblegum pop dance song "Sugar, Sugar" was so popular that Billboard named it the No. 1 song of the year. But they never had another hit.
The only hit song for Soft Cell, "Tainted Love," is a synth-pop rendition of the Edward Cobb-penned track originally made famous by Gloria Jones. VH1 called it one of the greatest one-hit wonders of the 1980s.
"My Sharona" was The Knack's debut single and only hit. It's a sexy, summery and decadent dance song. But afterwards, The Knack disappeared.
The only big hit for glam rockers T. Rex was "Bang a Gong (Get It On)." Fresh and hypnotic, it's one of those generational tracks that only a select few rock acts ever get an opportunity to write.
Although they didn't write it, Simple Minds recorded "Don't You (Forget About Me)" for "The Breakfast Club" film. The song is as timeless as Simple Minds was short-lived.
Singer/songwriter Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, but he wasn't the one who recorded the vocals. He gave that honor to Mickey Thomas. While Thomas went on to become the co-lead vocalist of Jefferson Starship, which produced such hits as "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "We Built This City," Bishop did not have another hit that approached the popularity of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love."
Jean Knight's debut single and lone hit song, "Mr. Big Stuff," went double-platinum in 1971. Released through Stax Records, Knight became a funk maven overnight and "Mr. Big Stuff" finished the year at No. 18 on Billboard's Year-End chart.
Although Sinéad O'Connor had other popular songs, none approached the level of "Nothing Compares 2 U." Not only did it top the Hot 100 that year, but Billboard crowned it the best single of 1990. Through heavy airplay on MTV and a bevy of VMA and Grammy nominations, few vocalists were bigger than the Irish singer/songwriter at the dawn of the decade than O'Connor. Interestingly, O'Connor didn't write the song. Prince did - for his side band The Family. But "Nothing Compares 2 U" gave O'Connor the name recognition and platform for her later social activism.
"Hey Mickey" achieved No. 1 hit status on the Billboard Hot 100 — song immortality in Billboard history. Toni Basil would later work with Devo, be nominated for a Grammy for "Word of Mouth" and return to acting, but she never hit the charts like she did with "Hey Mickey."
The Surfaris' "Wipe Out" peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. "Wipe Out" predated, and helped set the stage for the Beach Boys' first No. 1 hit, "Surfin' U.S.A." It is pretty legendary for helping get the colloquial language of surfing out of Southern California and into the mainstream.
Honorable mentions go to Vanilla Ice and "Ice Ice Baby," Lou Bega and "Mambo #5 (a Little Bit Of …)," Aqua and "Barbie Girl" and Vanessa Carlton and "A Thousand Miles."
The creative team
Richard and Rebecca Hopkins conceived the show, with musical arrangements by Jim Prosser.
"They've been doing this for more than 40 years now," Randazzo noted. "They watch the trends of what audiences like. They look at what's happening in the world of popular music. And we try to offer shows that are unique from each other so that there's something for everybody, but which complement each other at the same time. They contrast, but they complement."
Richard Hopkins is the chief executive officer of Florida Studio Theatre and is directly responsible to the board of directors. He oversees the creation & implementation of all FST programming and fiscal planning, including Mainstage, Cabaret, Stage III, New Play Development, Education and Touring.
Since his arrival at FST in 1980, he has guided the theatre from a small touring company to a nationally recognized regional theatre, which impacts over 230,000 adults and children annually. He has directed more than 40 productions in FST's five theatres. He has also worked at numerous regional theatres including Capital Repertory, Blowing Rock Theatre, TheatreWorks Palo Alto, The Players of Columbus, Delaware Theatre Company, Long Island Stage, and many others.
He began his professional theatre career as a resident actor with the Asolo State Theatre in Sarasota. He was the founding director of Palisades Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., which eventually morphed into what is now American Stage in St. Petersburg and served as its producing director from 1974 to 1980.
Hopkins has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served as a theatre specialist for the U.S. Department of State to Cairo and Amman and taught at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He served as the president of the Florida Professional Theatres Association from 1983 to 1985. He served on the theatre panel for the Florida Arts Council. Hopkins is the recipient of numerous awards including the Arts Leadership Award from the Sarasota Arts Council & the Richard G. Fallon Award for Artistic Excellence from the Florida Professional Theatre Association.
Rebecca Hopkins serves as Florida Studio Theatre's managing director and chief operations officer. She has been a driving force behind FST's cabaret productions since 1998, helping to develop more than 25 original shows. This season, she served as lead developer for "Feeling Good," "Three Pianos" and "One Hit Wonders." Her past cabaret credits include "Up on the Roof," "The '70s: More Than a Decade," "Light My Fire," "American Pie" and "Blue Suede Shoes."
She has also served as head writer on all six "Laughing Matters" shows and helped develop productions such as "Mack the Knife," "The Prima Donnettes" and "Outlaws and Angels." In addition, she is the founder and producer of FST Improv and the Sarasota Improv Festival.
As managing director and COO, Hopkins oversees administration, development, marketing, and operations. She currently serves as vice president of the League of Resident Theatres and as an executive board member of the Sarasota Arts & Cultural Alliance. Her awards include the Cultural Champion Award and the Luminaire Award, both recognizing her creative leadership and lasting contributions to the arts in Sarasota.
Jim Prosser is the resident pianist at FST. Over his many years at FST, Prosser has most often performed in the cabaret, where he has arranged and co-developed many shows including "Dancing In The Street," "By Gershwin," "Laughing Matters," "European Cabaret," "That's Life," "British Invasion," "Shakespeare's Greatest Hits," "Harry Who?," "Too Darn Hot," and last season's production of" Never Marry A Girl With Cold Feet." He has also served as resident composer/music director for FST's education department, writing numerous songs and scores for children's shows such as "Androcles" and "the Lion," "RAP-Punzel" and the WRITE A PLAY elementary tours.
The company's process is deliberate.
"We'll sit in a room, and Jim [Prosser] will play through the whole entire show and sing, and Rebecca will say the dialogue," Randazzo explained. "Then we invite ten or so people to come in and listen and tell us what they think. That gives us an idea of what's working and what's not. It's a collaborative development process, which makes it very creative. It's not like a book show, where you have all the dialogue and all the songs."
Using focus groups to develop a show like "One Hit Wonders" has obvious benefits for the audience, but it creates some interesting challenges for the singers and musicians.
"It's challenging because the material sometimes changes in the week prior to opening," Randazzo observed. "So, an actor might be thrown a new set of songs or dialogue, or the order in which they're sung may change, even from one act to another."
That actually happened with another of FST's cabaret productions, "Feeling Good," which recently closed.
"We were pretty sure we thought that the structure was good, that the song list was in the right order, and then we brought in a group of civilians, as we call them," Randazzo noted. "They hadn't heard the songs. They hadn't seen the show. After we were done, we asked what they liked about act one and what they liked about act two. What didn't you like? And almost everybody in the room said, you know, I loved everything except I could do without 'Smile,' if you know that song. They thought it was too much of an emotional downer. We didn't cut it right away. We put it in a read-through, sing-through, and everybody was like, yeah, you can cut that song. We don't really need it there. It's repetitive with some of the other songs. So, we cut it, and then that helps lift and build a more exciting ending."
FST's creatives don't rely simply on feedback. They watch the posture, facial expressions and for telltale signs of interest or boredom.
"You can see them either lean in. You can see them yawn, check their watch or get fidgety in their seat," said Randazzo. "Then you're like, ah, we're losing them. But much better to do it beforehand in a focus group than to have to make changes mid-run … although we've done that, too."
Mid-run changes can result from feedback FST elicits through nightly post-performance surveys.
"Children's theater, main stage plays, musicals, Stage III, we do it for everything," said Randazzo. "We learn a lot from it. It's important, because if we don't take the pulse of the audience, then who are we doing this for?"
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- "Florida Studio Theatre announces the 2026 Stage III lineup."
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