From Someone to Watch Over Me  to I Will Survive, it’s the journey of women, told through Top-40 music in the musical production RESPECT: A Musical Journey of Women. From the codependence of I Will Follow Him  to the anger of These Boots are Made for Walking, to the cynicism of What’s Love Got to Do with It, and finally to the strength of Hero. Combining excerpts of 60 songs with women’s own stories about finding dreams, lost love, relationship issues, entering the workforce, gaining independence, and more, this show is exhilarating! It’s more than just a story worth telling, it’s a must-see and must-hear.

For more than the first half of the last century, the voice of women in Top-40 popular music has been one of neediness and dependency. I’ll do anything for you; just be my baby, even if you’re no good and treat me bad; just LOVE me and I’ll stand by my man. By the end of the century, things were quite different. Popular music had come far enough so that women looked for the hero within themselves, were urged to get on their feet and make it happen, ready to stand on her own with or without a man. Messages encompassed “I am woman-hear me roar,” to “I will survive” and encouraged women to find their own dreams.