Review: THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS at TUTS Underground

THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS is a world premiere for TUTS Underground, and a show that should have some legs outside the Hobby Center after the run here. It's campy, bawdy, and all about empowering women with the power of drag fashion! It's a whole heap of fun, and that should make audiences happy to embrace this new production with music by Melissa Manchester, lyrics by Sharon Vaughn, and a book by Rupert Holmes. It's not every day Houston launches a new musical, so this one is a cause for celebration and applause. But keep in mind, that too much of a good thing can be troublesome. It's not perfect for Broadway yet, but THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS should have a shot there some day.

It's all based on a series of books by Jill Conner Browne who created the Sweet Potato phenomenon in the early '80s as a response to her string of bad jobs and bad marriages. It all started off humbly enough with a group of women dressing up for a Mississippi St. Patrick's Day parade in Jackson, and became a popular organization that claims 6,000 chapters in over twenty countries. The central idea of Sweet Potato Queens are sisterhood and positive thinking. Jill Conner Browne's books are what most people know of the movement.

This new musical takes Jill's early life and combines it with a fantasy version where Queen Jill can express ideas from the books in contrast to her younger self. Queen Jill is played by Houston musical goddess Susan Koozin who has been seen plenty of times singing to her "younger self" on local stages around town. She's a smart choice to head up THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS, and she does so with her usual big voice, big personality, and big hair. Kathryn Portersfield is the young version of Jill, and the show alternately focuses on her struggles living in a trailer park with her parents, young daughter, and skirt chasing husband. Kathryn can sing, and she does an admirable job of making us root for young Jill to turn into the fabulous Queen Jill. She gets emotional and musical support from a trio of Tammys played by Kerissa Arrington, Julia Krohn, and Christina Stroup. They each get a great number, and prove their mettle as fellow Queens of this musical. Adding to the friend circle is gay George played by Dylan Godwin with fabulous panache and glittery vocals. Jill's philandering hubby is played by the always likeable Adam Gibb who has to get loathsome by the end. Mama and Daddy are ably played by Theresa Nelson and Kevin Cooney.

This is basically a trailer park musical with songs about working at Sears, living in the South, funeral food, selling Avon, Maddog 20/20, and even the promise of a sexual act to get your way with men. THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS do not aim high, but what would you expect from women in sequin dresses, red wigs, and sparkly sunglasses? At its heart though, this musical is all about promoting the spirit of women and even gay men who long to embrace that ideal. Southern gals and their favorite gay guys should lap this stuff up all too easily, and perhaps that is what makes the show such a charmer. By the end I wanted to grab a pink boa and put on a glittery frock and rock it out Sweet Potato style.

The high points of the show are anytime the emotions of the women or men are allowed to shine through. In Act One Flower Tammy gets a number called "Flowers in the Snow", and Julia Krohn sells it for all she is worth. The finale to Act One includes a great high point from young Jill that Kathryn Porterfield rings out all too clearly with great tone and thunder. George gets to express his view in his own song, and it's where Dylan Godwin proves he is an equal to the gals here in delivering great pathos and drama. The whole company culminates the show with "To Be a Queen" which allows Susan Koozin to bring it all home in a gift wrapped Southern basket of fun and belting.

Co-directors Bruce Lumpkin and Marley Wisnoski do an admirable job of keeping the action moving between the Queens and the trailer park. Ryan McGettigan has constructed a great trailer set, but kept the rest super simple with just suggestions and pinks and greens. Jeff Knaggs makes the hair higher and that much closer to Jesus to round things out. Colleen Grady's costume designs are realistic but outlandish when they need to be. John McDaniel's orchestrations are ably executed by Thom Culcasi's direction of the music. Songs by Melissa Manchester and Sharon Vaughn are well done for the most part, with a nice pop/rock feel that carries the parade along nicely.

It's a blast and a half, but there is one problem. THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS could really benefit from further cuts to its score and book. It dragged on a bit long with a total running time near two and half hours that felt a good bit longer than what they were. The timing is a bit off, because the story is far too simple to spend this much time ruminating on it. Some numbers seem to go on just a few verses too long, and they get a little cloying at times. They're far too sweet and become grating at points when you just wish they'd pick up the pace and get to the fabulous conclusion. The problem is we know this girl's future, and we know her hubby is not good enough for her. So why all the hemming and hawing to get there?

TUTS Underground has a crowd pleaser on its hands, and this one should have a deservedly successful run with plenty of fans at the end of it. THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS tells a great story, has a solid cast, and is a ton of fun. It may drag on a bit long, but the crowds probably won't mind terribly much with these gals and guys to carry them along. It's as much fun as St. Patrick's Day Parade in Jackson, Mississippi with buxom women in red wings throwing out sweet potatoes at their admirers.

THE SWEET POTATO QUEENS runs through March 27th in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets can be ordered through the TUTS Underground web site at https://www.tuts.com/underground

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