Something different for The Players: a small cast doing an area premiere of a relatively new musical by not-too-familiar creators. Though based on a mildly successful film, The Spitfire Grill is far from the kind of cult favorite that spawned campy hits
like Reefer Madness and Hairspray.
Audiences here incline toward feel-good, wholesome shows, and if at least one of the important characters is mature without being a stereotype, so much the better. Thus the enthusiastic reception I
witnessed from an audience of moderate size who braved unusual cold and winds to attend and chuckle or catch their breaths or mumble appreciation for every song. That also meant a bit of undertow, since The Spitfire Grill is very nearly sung-through. It's also close to being a folk opera; in any case, not a typical country-musical comedy.
Happily, Jennifer K. Baker, who plays heroine Percy, a gal fresh from jail to passed-by town Gilead, Wisconsin, mid 1980s, has a country-sized voice reminiscent of Patsy Cline. She must, to deal with solos ("A Ring Around the Moon" and "Out of the Frying Pan") as well as big duets "The Colors of Paradise" and "This Wide Woods" with a Sheriff and a townswoman who becomes her rare, first friend. Sheriff Joe (likeable Kirk V. Hughes) persuades ready-to-retire Hannah (Bobbie Burrell, rightly gruff but spirited) to let rejected Percy work at her Spitfire Grill. Unsuccessfully up for sale decade-long by Hannah's frustrated son Caleb (played by Bill Sarazen with needed belligerence), it's a constant reminder of his smarter, popular brother Eli. Reputedly Eli would have made everything better, had he not gone heroically off to war and disappeared.
Caleb's so bitter that his wife Shelby (charismatic, clear-voiced Ellie Pattison) prefers cooking in the company of Percy and Hannah to home. When the latter takes up Percy's idea of raffling off the Grill to whomever, with a dollar entry fee, writes in the best reasons for wanting it, business and relationships begin to prosper. Even Effie (comic Laura Sommer Raines), town gossip, rejoices in spreading good news. Gilead, like its symbolic Biblical namesake, heads with its residents toward redemption.
Designer Mike Gray with Scenic Artist John C. Reynolds capture the essence of a rugged country setting and set up levels of differing indoor spaces that never seem crowded. With the actors' strong voices and live, lively musicians, over-miking detracts. The text is too long and, due to the predictability of key revelations, tedious. Sameness of much of the music doesn't help. Though audience inclinations or desires to try something new aren't enough to transform a work from middlin'-best, The Players deserve credit for the attempt.
