It can't get much better than this at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival: a time tested script by Atlanta playwright Alfred Uhry, sensitive direction by John Manfredi without a hint of patronizing sentimentality, a design team at their best, and a stellar ensemble of actors, resulting in a provocative and emotionally wrenching iteration of the Pulitzer Prize winning Driving Miss Daisy. -- The standard has been set high as ASF begins its 30th Anniversary Season in Montgomery.
Staged in the Octagon Theatre to capitalize on its intimacy, Driving Miss Daisy succeeds in engaging its audiences from the start and never loosens its gently insistent grip for the 90-minute playing time covering twenty-five years that start during Truman's presidency and end sometime after the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
The plot is so well known that there are no surprises in store, though Uhry's deceptively simple script does provide any number of insightful revelations about race relations in a reluctantly changing South, and resonate in 2015 as much as they did at its 1987 debut.
When a 72-year-old wealthy Jewish widow Daisy Wertham [Greta Lambert] wrecks yet another car in her upscale Atlanta neighborhood, her son Boolie [Brik Berkes] hires Hoke Colburn [James Bowen] a 60-year-old "colored man" as her chauffeur. Used to her independence, Daisy resents her son's intrusion in bringing a "stranger" into her household, and refuses to engage with Hoke whom she "mistrusts"; and while she claims to not be prejudiced, she still refers to Hoke as one of "them". -- But the cards are stacked against Daisy as Boolie tells Hoke that Daisy can't fire him because "you'll be working for me."
This unlikely relationship is tracked over the next couple of decades via episodes that demonstrate a gradual mutual respect so that in her old age, Daisy claims "You are my best friend."
The performances in Driving Miss Daisy are completely credible as the characters age twenty-five years, thereby enabling us to invest in their lives and both laugh and cry as they reveal themselves to us in everyday as well as extraordinary situations.
In Mr.Berkes' capable portrayal, Boolie is a caring son who knows well his mother's foibles and how to placate her more modest requests with an off-handed "You're a doodle, Mama", but can be firm in making her journey into old age as comfortable as possible, correcting her when appropriate. And his reticence in attending a Martin Luther King, Jr. event for fear of losing business and being socially ostracized is a difficult decision. -- He learns to trust Hoke sooner than his mother, and their negotiating Hoke's contract is a lesson in understanding.
Mr. Bowen's Hoke [arguably his best performance at ASF] is an instantly likable person who is practiced in negotiating a job, a raise in pay, and relationships with white people by maintaining a pleasant demeanor regardless of the years of inherited prejudice levied against him. Sly as a fox, Mr.Bowen exhibits Hoke's inherent kindness in being ever patient with Daisy's demands and biases while keeping his integrity intact when he refuses her last minute invitation to the MLK event. -- Theirs is a friendship that is powerful in its honesty.
In her thirty years gracing the ASF stage in Montgomery, Greta Lambert has rarely been as luminous as in her depiction of Daisy Wertham. Her exquisitely nuanced performance that shows Daisy's pride and steadfastness, her sense of humor and puzzlement at world affairs, her motherly instincts and her teacher's practicality, and her ability to remain hopeful as she expertly transitions into old age [without make-up enhancements, relying instead on her subtle vocal and physical adjustments], makes her Daisy a master class in acting. -- The relationships with her on-stage counterparts are crafted with such detail that she seems to effortlessly inhabit the role. -- She is able to carry audiences along her journey that enables them to identify with her as she experiences the power of friendship that transforms her.
The final scenes showing the impact of her dementia are handled gracefully; as Hoke patiently and with the utmost concern for his friend feeds her a piece of pie, there is hardly a dry eye in the house.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Faulkner: "The Other Side of the Bridge"
The Faulkner University Dinner Theatre is hosting the premiere of an original play entitled The Other Side of the Bridge by director and Faculty member Angela Dickson -- the bridge being the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the events taking place in 1965, and the "other side" being both literal as well as a story that is not part of the common history of the Civil Rights Era.
As a tribute to her father who served as a National Guardsman whose job was to protect the marchers after they had crossed the bridge on their way to Montgomery, Ms. Dickson envisions a Christian white family who, like many others at that time, tried to keep their lives as normal as possible during a turbulent time. From the perspective of the play's narrator [Brittney Johnston] who is the grown up version of one of the children, most of the adults in her play, for better or for worse, "loved us enough to lie to us, or not tell us the whole truth". -- Some subjects were for adults only, and Ms. Dickson's characters -- the father John [Matt Dickson], the mother Millie [Jesse Alston], Trip [George Scrushy and Andi [Mattie Earls] -- debate their allegiances to family and country, and are concerned with the safety of their families; but they do not talk with their children about the racial issues virtually on their doorstep.
On a stormy day, while celebrating their son Dusty's [Kieran Cross] birthday with cake and gifts, John invites a stranded African American threesome to both shelter in their home and join the simple festivities. While Michael [Colby Smith], Jennie [Jocelyn Jointer] and Sarah [Theresa Jett] humbly accept John's hospitality, Uncle Ned [Hunter Lee Smith] objects, saying that his brother is ignoring family in favor of strangers who he despises for the color of their skin.
But John sticks to his principles against Ned's prejudice and emerges heroic in the view of his grown up daughter, the Narrator, who only in retrospect can deal with the public and private events of 1965, since the family had never talked about them,
To add a further moral emphasis to her play, Ms. Dickson has two preachers -- one white [Chris Kelly], one black [Tony Davidson], who serve in neighboring churches and are good friends -- serve as a kind of Chorus, who profess the need for love and compassion in all our lives and at all times in our lives, to give them a solid foundation.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned here, ones that resonate over time and continue to impact our lives. lessons about loyalty and duty to family and country, lessons about equality and diversity, lessons about love.
As a tribute to her father who served as a National Guardsman whose job was to protect the marchers after they had crossed the bridge on their way to Montgomery, Ms. Dickson envisions a Christian white family who, like many others at that time, tried to keep their lives as normal as possible during a turbulent time. From the perspective of the play's narrator [Brittney Johnston] who is the grown up version of one of the children, most of the adults in her play, for better or for worse, "loved us enough to lie to us, or not tell us the whole truth". -- Some subjects were for adults only, and Ms. Dickson's characters -- the father John [Matt Dickson], the mother Millie [Jesse Alston], Trip [George Scrushy and Andi [Mattie Earls] -- debate their allegiances to family and country, and are concerned with the safety of their families; but they do not talk with their children about the racial issues virtually on their doorstep.
On a stormy day, while celebrating their son Dusty's [Kieran Cross] birthday with cake and gifts, John invites a stranded African American threesome to both shelter in their home and join the simple festivities. While Michael [Colby Smith], Jennie [Jocelyn Jointer] and Sarah [Theresa Jett] humbly accept John's hospitality, Uncle Ned [Hunter Lee Smith] objects, saying that his brother is ignoring family in favor of strangers who he despises for the color of their skin.
But John sticks to his principles against Ned's prejudice and emerges heroic in the view of his grown up daughter, the Narrator, who only in retrospect can deal with the public and private events of 1965, since the family had never talked about them,
To add a further moral emphasis to her play, Ms. Dickson has two preachers -- one white [Chris Kelly], one black [Tony Davidson], who serve in neighboring churches and are good friends -- serve as a kind of Chorus, who profess the need for love and compassion in all our lives and at all times in our lives, to give them a solid foundation.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned here, ones that resonate over time and continue to impact our lives. lessons about loyalty and duty to family and country, lessons about equality and diversity, lessons about love.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
AUM: "Celebrating 40 Years -- Gala"
For the past 40 years, Theatre AUM has been a model for educational theatre, balancing its academic programs with a commitment to producing plays from the breadth of world drama -- classical and modern, tragedies and comedies, straight plays and musicals, old standards and new scripts -- challenging its students and local audiences with its sometimes risky choices and a variety of theatrical styles.
So, its Gala celebration on Saturday night -- Celebrating 40 Years, co-directed by Neil David Seibel, LaBrandon Tyre, Mike Winkelman, and Val Winkelman -- was unsurprising in showcasing its educational theatre mission, while affording the audience a capsule of scenes, monologues, and songs from its 40-year repertoire, and featuring an ensemble of 20+ current students, alumni, faculty, and guest artists, some of whom reprised roles they had appeared in decades earlier.
Celebrating with them in the audience were Guin Nance, former AUM Chancellor who started the theatre program, Bob Gaines, who was Department Chair from 1977-2007, Mary-Lynn Izzo, a former AUM costume designer, Randy Foster, who directed several productions, and Mike Cunliffe, an alumnus whose play Movie Night was excerpted in one of the evening's most memorable performances by Sophomore Kodi Robertson.
In a kind of love-fest between actors and audience, all some of these veterans had to do was take the stage for the audience to enthusiastically welcome them home; and Eleanor Davis [triumphant in a rendering of "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunch" from Company], Layne Holley [powerhouse samplings from Godspell and Noises Off], Scott Page [passionate in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat], and Sam Wallace [restrained in singing "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks], did not disappoint.
Each of the selections was done as an "audition piece", with actors introducing themselves and the titles to be performed. And while it is hard to pin down the best of the best, the talents showed a wide variety of offerings. -- It was a treat to see AUM's managing director Katie Pearson share the stage with her daughter Rita Pearson-Daley (a last-minute replacement) as mother and daughter in Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. And selections from All in the Timing, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Brigadoon, and Coastal Disturbances demonstrated the range that AUM is noted for.
Even a few theatrical in-jokes punctuated the evening's two acts. Waiting for Godot, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and yelling a single word -- "S-T-E-L-L-A" -- from A Streetcar Named Desire, among them, received appreciative laughs and applause.
It was truly an upbeat celebration, with Theatre AUM proclaiming "this is who we are...this is what we do", with the promise of continuing their traditions. Congratulations.
So, its Gala celebration on Saturday night -- Celebrating 40 Years, co-directed by Neil David Seibel, LaBrandon Tyre, Mike Winkelman, and Val Winkelman -- was unsurprising in showcasing its educational theatre mission, while affording the audience a capsule of scenes, monologues, and songs from its 40-year repertoire, and featuring an ensemble of 20+ current students, alumni, faculty, and guest artists, some of whom reprised roles they had appeared in decades earlier.
Celebrating with them in the audience were Guin Nance, former AUM Chancellor who started the theatre program, Bob Gaines, who was Department Chair from 1977-2007, Mary-Lynn Izzo, a former AUM costume designer, Randy Foster, who directed several productions, and Mike Cunliffe, an alumnus whose play Movie Night was excerpted in one of the evening's most memorable performances by Sophomore Kodi Robertson.
In a kind of love-fest between actors and audience, all some of these veterans had to do was take the stage for the audience to enthusiastically welcome them home; and Eleanor Davis [triumphant in a rendering of "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunch" from Company], Layne Holley [powerhouse samplings from Godspell and Noises Off], Scott Page [passionate in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat], and Sam Wallace [restrained in singing "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks], did not disappoint.
Each of the selections was done as an "audition piece", with actors introducing themselves and the titles to be performed. And while it is hard to pin down the best of the best, the talents showed a wide variety of offerings. -- It was a treat to see AUM's managing director Katie Pearson share the stage with her daughter Rita Pearson-Daley (a last-minute replacement) as mother and daughter in Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. And selections from All in the Timing, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Brigadoon, and Coastal Disturbances demonstrated the range that AUM is noted for.
Even a few theatrical in-jokes punctuated the evening's two acts. Waiting for Godot, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and yelling a single word -- "S-T-E-L-L-A" -- from A Streetcar Named Desire, among them, received appreciative laughs and applause.
It was truly an upbeat celebration, with Theatre AUM proclaiming "this is who we are...this is what we do", with the promise of continuing their traditions. Congratulations.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Millbrook: "Route 66"
It's time to "get your kicks" on Route 66, the Roger Bean musical revue now showing in Millbrook under A. John Collier's direction and finely rendered scenic design. -- Little more than a compilation of 30+ songs from the 1950s and 1960s, its premise is a cross-country road trip along the famous Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.
With a talented cast of four -- Jody Dow, Tina Hosey, Michael Snead, Pat VanCor -- who perform in solos and in various combinations, the trip and their songs are connected by an assortment of period radio advertisements for Chevrolets, "a little dab 'l do ya" Brylcreem hair-gel for men, "let Hertz put you in the driver's seat", Firestone tires "where the rubber hits the road", Delco batteries, and Uniflo motor oil among them: a nostalgic treat for audience members of a certain age.
Some of the better moments in this pleasant two act show are: a sensitive version of "Mother Road", clever novelty numbers "Beep-Beep" and "Long Tall Texan", a hilarious "Rolaids, Doan's Pills, and Preparation-H", the touching "Oklahoma Hills", and popular foot-stompin' renditions of "Fun-Fun-Fun" and "I Get Around".
While a few of the pieces are performed with solo acoustic guitar accompaniment, the ensemble sings mainly to an over-amplified pre-recorded soundtrack that unfortunately distorts much of their sound. And the static-filled radio advertisements are also disarmingly loud, making the words almost unintelligible.
All in all, though, Route 66 is a diverting entertainment. Thrown in with the ticket price is a Southern style dinner catered by Felicia Swanner of Swanner's Catering, making an evening out complete.
With a talented cast of four -- Jody Dow, Tina Hosey, Michael Snead, Pat VanCor -- who perform in solos and in various combinations, the trip and their songs are connected by an assortment of period radio advertisements for Chevrolets, "a little dab 'l do ya" Brylcreem hair-gel for men, "let Hertz put you in the driver's seat", Firestone tires "where the rubber hits the road", Delco batteries, and Uniflo motor oil among them: a nostalgic treat for audience members of a certain age.
Some of the better moments in this pleasant two act show are: a sensitive version of "Mother Road", clever novelty numbers "Beep-Beep" and "Long Tall Texan", a hilarious "Rolaids, Doan's Pills, and Preparation-H", the touching "Oklahoma Hills", and popular foot-stompin' renditions of "Fun-Fun-Fun" and "I Get Around".
While a few of the pieces are performed with solo acoustic guitar accompaniment, the ensemble sings mainly to an over-amplified pre-recorded soundtrack that unfortunately distorts much of their sound. And the static-filled radio advertisements are also disarmingly loud, making the words almost unintelligible.
All in all, though, Route 66 is a diverting entertainment. Thrown in with the ticket price is a Southern style dinner catered by Felicia Swanner of Swanner's Catering, making an evening out complete.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Wetumpka Depot: "Love. Loss, and What I Wore"
Love, Loss, and What I Wore, the Nora and Delia Ephron stage adaptation of Ilene Beckerman's best selling book, is playing at the Wetumpka Depot with a different all-women's cast on each of its three weekend run. So, though Cast #1's turn has ended, there's still time to see other groups of River Region and beyond actresses take to the boards in this charming, funny, poignant, and occasionally irreverent take on women's obsession with clothes and the memories they associate about life and death, and relationships of all sorts.
Staged as readings [the six member cast are lined up on high stools with scripts on lecterns in front of them, and with several dresses displayed behind them], director Kim Mason takes audiences on an uninterrupted 90-minute ride into the hearts and minds of an eclectic ensemble as they dissect siblings, mothers, and grandmothers, current and ex-husbands, changes of fashion, and signal moments of growing up and getting older -- all through the lens of their collective association with clothes.
Each of the women here -- Elizabeth Bowles, Sharon DeMuth, Kristy Meanor, Katie Svela-Crews, Lizzy Woodall, Susan Woody -- has moments that bring her individual personality to the fore, but it is their combined sense of comradeship in shared experiences that provides a comfort level that connects actor and audience. -- And, they are all good storytellers.
Whether the subject is prom dresses or wedding gowns or bras, boots or shoes or bathrobes, sibling rivalries or motherly advice, philandering husbands or their own sexual dalliances, breast cancer or rape or the untimely death of a family member, these women and their stories effortlessly keep our attention.
And oh, by the way, this isn't merely a play for women; the men in the house on Saturday night "got it": the serious and lighthearted moments alike; "I have nothing to wear" from a closet full of clothes, the "Does this make me look fat?" refrain, and the never-ending battle of finding anything in a cluttered purse, resonate with men and woman alike.
Lots of laughs, a few tears, and an overall confident cast make Love, Loss, and What I Wore a delight.
Staged as readings [the six member cast are lined up on high stools with scripts on lecterns in front of them, and with several dresses displayed behind them], director Kim Mason takes audiences on an uninterrupted 90-minute ride into the hearts and minds of an eclectic ensemble as they dissect siblings, mothers, and grandmothers, current and ex-husbands, changes of fashion, and signal moments of growing up and getting older -- all through the lens of their collective association with clothes.
Each of the women here -- Elizabeth Bowles, Sharon DeMuth, Kristy Meanor, Katie Svela-Crews, Lizzy Woodall, Susan Woody -- has moments that bring her individual personality to the fore, but it is their combined sense of comradeship in shared experiences that provides a comfort level that connects actor and audience. -- And, they are all good storytellers.
Whether the subject is prom dresses or wedding gowns or bras, boots or shoes or bathrobes, sibling rivalries or motherly advice, philandering husbands or their own sexual dalliances, breast cancer or rape or the untimely death of a family member, these women and their stories effortlessly keep our attention.
And oh, by the way, this isn't merely a play for women; the men in the house on Saturday night "got it": the serious and lighthearted moments alike; "I have nothing to wear" from a closet full of clothes, the "Does this make me look fat?" refrain, and the never-ending battle of finding anything in a cluttered purse, resonate with men and woman alike.
Lots of laughs, a few tears, and an overall confident cast make Love, Loss, and What I Wore a delight.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
WOBT: "Godspell"
Rarely off the boards at schools and community theatres since its 1971 Off-Broadway premiere, the John-Michael Tebelak and Stephen Schwartz musical Godspell is being given a three-weekend run at Prattville's Way Off Broadway Theatre.
Directed by Jason Morgan, with an eleven-member cast of veterans and newcomers, the revised in 2012 version's earnestness in its many teaching moments drawn mostly from St. Matthew's Gospel give audiences ample opportunities to reflect on personal beliefs and behaviors as well as to study the avowed Christian stances taken by many of 2015's public officials.
The litany of over a dozen parable messages -- "those who are humbled shall be exalted", "turn the other cheek", "walk in someone else's shoes", "one can't be a servant to two masters", "let him who is without sin cast the first stone", et al. -- are told in a variety of musical styles as Jesus [Hunter Lee Smith] conscripts his Apostles, a rag-tag bunch who, on opening night, exhibited some individual strengths in characterization [Paul Neace in the double role of John the Baptist and Judas], singing [Jailyn Ausborn and Alicia Ruth Jackson], tap dance [Daniel Harms], mime [Merelee Robinson], and stage presence [D'Andre Massey], but who [with Lucie Chesser, Olivia Johnston, Danielle Phillips, and Jillian Rabb] never quite congeal into a unified ensemble.
Perhaps because much of the movement was so very casual, and a lot of the dialogue spoken so softly as to throw away important contemporary popular culture references and ideas, the sporadic energetic moments better demonstrated a discipline that made them memorable. -- In addition, several scenes were staged in dark areas of the theatre, so the actors could not be seen clearly.
Godspell has survived for over forty years in great part due to its timeless themes and messages that bear repeating today. Songs like "Prepare Ye" and "Day by Day" have a permanent place in the canon of musical theatre. Hopefully, the next two weekends' performances will achieve the solidity the play deserves.
Directed by Jason Morgan, with an eleven-member cast of veterans and newcomers, the revised in 2012 version's earnestness in its many teaching moments drawn mostly from St. Matthew's Gospel give audiences ample opportunities to reflect on personal beliefs and behaviors as well as to study the avowed Christian stances taken by many of 2015's public officials.
The litany of over a dozen parable messages -- "those who are humbled shall be exalted", "turn the other cheek", "walk in someone else's shoes", "one can't be a servant to two masters", "let him who is without sin cast the first stone", et al. -- are told in a variety of musical styles as Jesus [Hunter Lee Smith] conscripts his Apostles, a rag-tag bunch who, on opening night, exhibited some individual strengths in characterization [Paul Neace in the double role of John the Baptist and Judas], singing [Jailyn Ausborn and Alicia Ruth Jackson], tap dance [Daniel Harms], mime [Merelee Robinson], and stage presence [D'Andre Massey], but who [with Lucie Chesser, Olivia Johnston, Danielle Phillips, and Jillian Rabb] never quite congeal into a unified ensemble.
Perhaps because much of the movement was so very casual, and a lot of the dialogue spoken so softly as to throw away important contemporary popular culture references and ideas, the sporadic energetic moments better demonstrated a discipline that made them memorable. -- In addition, several scenes were staged in dark areas of the theatre, so the actors could not be seen clearly.
Godspell has survived for over forty years in great part due to its timeless themes and messages that bear repeating today. Songs like "Prepare Ye" and "Day by Day" have a permanent place in the canon of musical theatre. Hopefully, the next two weekends' performances will achieve the solidity the play deserves.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Wetumpka Depot: "Smoke on the Mountain"
Smoke on the Mountain, the popular and often produced 1988 Gospel-bluegrass musical, is playing to sold out audiences at the Wetumpka Depot. -- Director Hazel Jones' talented ensemble turns in broadly stereotypical characterizations; but they impress us with their versatility in both singing and playing an assortment of musical instruments, often switching from piano to upright bass to guitar, washboard, spoons, and so on. -- The actors are complemented on stage by Elizabeth Bowles and Donny Tomlin who deftly accompany them on mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and dulcimer among others -- a truly "joyful noise".
The Connie Ray and Alan Bailey story of The Sanders Family's appearance in 1938 at the fictional rural North Carolina Mount Pleasant Baptist Church's "first ever Saturday night singing", mixes familiar songs from The Hymnal with original tunes so like them it is hard to tell the difference.
Pastor Oglethorpe [Jeff Langham] attempts to maintain the traditional purity of his congregation's mission while simultaneously bringing them "into the modern world". -- He invited The Sanders Family who say that "witnessing is the most important part of our mission...and the songs"; but the Pastor isn't prepared for their unabashedly honest and often shocking behavior, and must placate the three ladies sitting judgmentally in The Amen Corner of the church.
And what a group this family is: first on the scene is the bright-eyed and pig-tailed June [Faith Bruner], who doesn't sing, but rather "signs" the lyrics as her testimony -- not the standard ASL by any means, but some outrageous interpretive gestures that Ms. Bruner produces with hilarious dead-pan simplicity.
The other children are twins: petite curly-haired blonde Denise [an effervescent Leanna Wallace] -- "the girl" as she is quick to differentiate from Dennis, "the boy" [Joseph Collins], a mentally challenged [PC] towering figure whose innocence and sincerity are always on display. -- Their rendition of "Christian Cowboy" scandalizes the Pastor when they dance enthusiastically; Ms. Wallace's admitted "lapse of faith" when she ran away to audition for Gone With the Wind is sweetly rendered; and Mr. Collins' "sermonette" when he goes off-script from what his mother penned for him, shows Dennis' natural ability as a preacher.
Mom Vera [Sally Blackwell] and Dad Burl [Lloyd Strickland] are the bedrock of the family. These actors demonstrate such a natural comfort that we are instantly drawn to them. Each provides ample lessons in compassion and tolerance -- the virtues so often lacking in many professed Christians in the public eye -- and they are also adept at quoting Chapter and Verse in cleverly orchestrated competitive games of one upmanship with Mr. Langham's Pastor.
Jonathan Yarboro plays Burl's brother Stanley, an ex-con who found his way in prison, and is still struggling with the hypocrisy of others. In a finely nuanced performance, Mr. Yarboro's character is the most tolerant and unassuming man whose testimony of prison experience shows the good in even the most hardened individuals.
Through all the testifying and songs, both Pastor Oglethorpe and we are gradually seduced by the honest homespun faith of The Sanders Family. Audiences are leaving the Depot with smiles on their faces from this engaging production. -- If only their "joyful noise" could have a permanent impact.
The Connie Ray and Alan Bailey story of The Sanders Family's appearance in 1938 at the fictional rural North Carolina Mount Pleasant Baptist Church's "first ever Saturday night singing", mixes familiar songs from The Hymnal with original tunes so like them it is hard to tell the difference.
Pastor Oglethorpe [Jeff Langham] attempts to maintain the traditional purity of his congregation's mission while simultaneously bringing them "into the modern world". -- He invited The Sanders Family who say that "witnessing is the most important part of our mission...and the songs"; but the Pastor isn't prepared for their unabashedly honest and often shocking behavior, and must placate the three ladies sitting judgmentally in The Amen Corner of the church.
And what a group this family is: first on the scene is the bright-eyed and pig-tailed June [Faith Bruner], who doesn't sing, but rather "signs" the lyrics as her testimony -- not the standard ASL by any means, but some outrageous interpretive gestures that Ms. Bruner produces with hilarious dead-pan simplicity.
The other children are twins: petite curly-haired blonde Denise [an effervescent Leanna Wallace] -- "the girl" as she is quick to differentiate from Dennis, "the boy" [Joseph Collins], a mentally challenged [PC] towering figure whose innocence and sincerity are always on display. -- Their rendition of "Christian Cowboy" scandalizes the Pastor when they dance enthusiastically; Ms. Wallace's admitted "lapse of faith" when she ran away to audition for Gone With the Wind is sweetly rendered; and Mr. Collins' "sermonette" when he goes off-script from what his mother penned for him, shows Dennis' natural ability as a preacher.
Mom Vera [Sally Blackwell] and Dad Burl [Lloyd Strickland] are the bedrock of the family. These actors demonstrate such a natural comfort that we are instantly drawn to them. Each provides ample lessons in compassion and tolerance -- the virtues so often lacking in many professed Christians in the public eye -- and they are also adept at quoting Chapter and Verse in cleverly orchestrated competitive games of one upmanship with Mr. Langham's Pastor.
Jonathan Yarboro plays Burl's brother Stanley, an ex-con who found his way in prison, and is still struggling with the hypocrisy of others. In a finely nuanced performance, Mr. Yarboro's character is the most tolerant and unassuming man whose testimony of prison experience shows the good in even the most hardened individuals.
Through all the testifying and songs, both Pastor Oglethorpe and we are gradually seduced by the honest homespun faith of The Sanders Family. Audiences are leaving the Depot with smiles on their faces from this engaging production. -- If only their "joyful noise" could have a permanent impact.
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