Review: 'Silver Threads Two' is more Ronstadt with a dash of Eagles on Harwich stage

Linda Ronstadt is one of those figures in popular culture who has survived the test of time. In fact, you might say that ― among the silver-haired crowd at least ― she has become iconic of the unrestrained rock and romance of popular music in the '70s and '80s. So the Cape Cod Theatre Company’s current production of “Silver Threads Two: Get Closer” is a chance for a guided, if casual, tour back to that time when your greatest concern was which pair of bell bottoms to wear with which paisley top. And it is, of course, the chance to sing along with songs immortalized by Ronstadt, and this time around the Eagles as well.

About the production

“Silver Threads Two: Get Closer,” conceived and directed by Sonia Schonning, with Rick Schonning as music director, presented by the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre.

What it's about

This is a reprise of “Silver Threads: A Rockin’ Tribute to Linda Ronstadt,” which the company presented in 2021, and which Sonia Schonning also helped pen. Co-creator of the earlier version was Marcia Wytrwal who, along with vocalist Sara Sneed, joined Schonning at the microphone. This time around Sara Bleything, Lynne Ruberti Johnson and Zack Johnson make up the Ronstadt retinue. At the show’s opening Johnson announces that he, as the lone male in the cast, is meant as a stand-in for the Eagles. (Note: The Eagles weren’t even a separate group when they played their first gig with Ronstadt on July 12, 1971. They were just her back-up group. They then went on to dominate rock music through the '70s.)

Highlights of the show

This show is all about Ronstadt’s songbook ― with some Eagles hits and an Aaron Neville piece thrown in for good measure. There are the Ronstadt hits that many now by heart including: “Track of My Tears,” “All My Life,” “Desperado” and “Don’t Know Much.” Then there are a couple of nods to the Eagles, “Take It to the Limit” and “Hotel California,” with “Somewhere Out There” the tribute to Ronstadt’s association with Neville.

The strongest voices onstage are probably Bleything’s and Johnson’s. (As an aside, Bleything bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Ronstadt.) Schonning and Ruberti Johnson hold their own, with Ruberti Johnson delivering some sweet renditions of some of the ballads in the show. There’s a no-frills set and fairly rudimentary choreography, so the vocal renditions are pretty much front-and-center.

In one stunning moment, however, guitarist Mark Van Bork steals the show when he (figuratively speaking) rips up his guitar strings in a segment of “Hotel California.”

Go or no go?

Go for a trip back in time and some momentary relief from myriad stresses of the 2020s.

Worth noting

The small, intimate West Harwich theater is the perfect spot for a laid-back visit with Ronstadt and associates.

Interesting fact

While Ronstadt is no longer part of the music scene, she has written a number of books, including the recent “Feels Like Home.”

If you go

7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, through June 10. Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St, West Harwich, 508-432-2002, www.capecodtheatrecompany.org, tickets: $35 regular, $18 youth.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Review: Queen of the rock ballad 'Ronstadt' is back in a new tribute