North and South Magazine, September 2007
Page One
The Beat Goes On
 The BeatGirls' founder and driving force Andrea Sanders |
The BeatGirls are getting ready for a show without the aid of a mirror.
Deep in the innards of SkyCity's Auckland Convention Centre, the boardroom serving as dressingroom has everything a cluster of corporates could need, but the promised reflector's a no-show.
And in just 15 minutes 500 Bayleys real estate employees expect the BeatGirls onstage in stunning outfits designed to bring to life songs and dance from the 40s to the "noughties".
The glam trio's used to rock-star treatment overseas: limos picking them up in US cities, makeup artists fussing over their lippie before they go onstage at celeb-spotted Olympics parties. But it doesn't bother these girls one jot if the red carpet's not rolled out when they prepare for corporate gigs - their mainstay earners in New Zealand. Bayleys has paid for their flights from Wellington, hotel rooms and meals, the girls have done their makeup back in their hotels, and they've told SkyCity they're happy changing wherever.
BeatGirls founder/owner/choreographer/ lead singer Andrea Sanders and Carolyn McLaughlin, who's been with the troupe all of their 11 years, recall far more rudimentary backstage arrangements: at a Golden Shears shearing competition their dressing-room was directly opposite the holding pens; they've executed costume changes amid industrial equipment and used the shine from stainless-steel stoves to check their wigs. Demanding divas they're not.
| Billy Watkins, who
occasionally plays bodyguard, says friends call him Hugh Hefner. “But it’s more like I’m Charlie and the |
And there's no apparent embarrassment about stripping off in front of a relative stranger. McLaughlin, 35, who juggles BeatGirls gigs with work as an actress, dancer and sound-effect artist, has mastered the subtle art of the unrevealing quick-change. The third BeatGirl, Kali Chote, 21, smiles widely and says little.
They're wearing tummy-compressing stockings, though it's perplexing why: stomachs are flat, arms toned, legs lean. As they step into sequin-studded dresses, a Bayleys guest dressed as James Bond wanders in, implausibly claiming he's lost his way; he has the grace to blush and back out.
Show time. They sashay through the kitchen, past pots and pans and bored-looking wait staff. Sanders times the first of their three 45minute sets perfectly: "when the audience is amped", she says; too soon and they're still quietly chatting, too late and they've gone flat.
They whirl on to the stage: "We're going to help you with your digestion this evening," coos Sanders as they launch into the Supremes' "Keep Me Hangin' On". She shoots a smile at husband Billy Watkins, BeatGirls co-founder, business manager and occasional guitarist and sound and lighting whiz, who's in the wings looking dapper if comparatively dull in a black suit.
Within minutes, the dance floor is packed as one crowd-pleaser follows another: "Proud Mary" (Tina Turner), "Dancing In The Street" (Martha and the Vandellas) - Sanders leading from the middle with her powerful voice. The slick dance routines are perfectly in sync. Dusty Springfield's "Son Of A Preacher Man" starts up: "This goes out to all the sinners in the room!" Sanders calls.