Review: Appleford On PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES

Theatre in the metropolitan Phoenix area is coming alive again ~ thankfully ~ and shows like The Phoenix Theatre Company's current production of PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES are giving local audiences a much needed oomph of spirit and delight.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1982, was the product of a collaboration among the eponymous sextet that included John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk (Tony and Emmy Award winner for performances in Redwood Curtain and NYPD Blue respectively), Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann.

For the coverage of this show, I'm delighted and privileged to welcome David Appleford as our guest reviewer.

Until his recent retirement, David was a beloved and highly esteemed presence in the performing arts scene, reporting on films and theatre at radio and TV stations around the country for more than thirty-five years and hosting his highly popular website, Valley Screen and Stage. With his keen sense of history and acute understanding of the world of theatre, his perceptive reviews set a standard for all of us. We're thrilled now to welcome him to the pages of BroadwayWorld and to feature his unique perspective on PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES.

From the keyboard of the inimitable David Appleford!

If you happen to be on the road, heading south through the Carolinas, and you're looking for a place to eat and get gas - that's what the sign says - then this is what you do: You take Highway 57, the scenic shortcut to the coast, then thank me later.

Somewhere along the route, about fifteen miles from Smyrna, your vehicle can be serviced by the friendly pump boys of L.M. and Jim's Garage while you enjoy coffee and a slice of delicious homemade pie from the delightfully down-home Cupp sisters over at the nearby Double Cupp Diner. Of course, availability of service is subject to how the boys might be feeling that day. As the circular board hanging by the service counter plainly states: "If I'm missing, I've gone fishing."

Performing now until August 23 on The Phoenix Theatre Company's Main Stage Theatre is the rollicking, good-time, 1981 country/pop-rock musical, PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES, a show that began as a performance piece by two guys singing in a New York City restaurant, then, with the aid of four more musician friends, slowly developed the idea into a full-blown musical. It opened on Broadway in '82.

When you see the show and leave the local Phoenix production on Central Avenue with that giddy, uplifting feeling of having just had the best time at the theatre and can't wait to tell friends about it, how do you go about explaining what PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES is all about? In truth, it's easier to say what it's not.

It's not plot-driven. There are no conflicts to face and defeat, no developments to be revealed and overcome, and no lessons to enlighten in the final act, unless you count learning the rules for maintaining that farmer's tan under a blazing hot Carolina sky. As the song says, "Every girl wants a man with a farmer's tan."

Neither is it character-driven. There may be an ensemble of six colorful, southern characters, eager to welcome you and maybe even sing you a song or two if you're willing to hang around long enough, but there's nothing to know about them other than what they appear to be and what their uniforms indicate they are: six of the friendliest and welcoming Carolinians you could hope to meet just when you're ready to pull over.

Plus, after eavesdropping on a small group of patrons in the lobby before the show, questioning whether what they were about to see was a jukebox musical in the vein of Million Dollar Quartet or not, the answer is, it's not. The lively, mostly upbeat and often catchy country/pop score, delivered with just a modicum of theatrical flair, is completely original, written in collaboration by the original six musician/players. And it's on that note where lessons on future good casting can be learned.

Because of the show's in-performance construct where dialog serves mostly as an intro to the following song, directors of subsequent regional productions should be aware that PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES doesn't require actors who can sing. It needs singers who can act. And not only act, but can also play their own instruments. Director D. Scott Withers, himself a veteran performer/director of musical theatre, both regional and national, has assembled a just-right ensemble of six musical performers who cheerfully embody who they are. Characters talk and share their thoughts directly to the audience. It's their upbeat, positive friendliness and their eager desire to welcome you to their world, if only for a short time, that wins you over the moment they appear.

Because of this hugely talented small ensemble of players, it feels redundant and perhaps even unfair to single-out an individual performance. Audiences will no doubt automatically focus on their own favorite talent and make their own choices as to who stands out and who draws them in. For yours truly, it was Cassie Chilton's Double Cupp Diner waitress Rehetta whose violin accompaniments throughout always sounded nothing short of haunting. And when both Rehetta and dinette sister Prudie (Emily Mulligan-Ferry) grab wooden sticks and use their freshly cleaned pots and pans as percussion during the song 'Catfish', you may feel the urge to leap up on scenic designer Douglas Clarke's wonderfully detailed set of both a seventies roadside garage and a diner and join them.

For many, this show may well be the first full, live production they've seen since last year's lock down abruptly closed doors on theatres all over the country. Now, over a year later, companies looking to choose the right show to entice supporters back is no doubt a challenge no one expected. With a small but rousing ensemble piece like PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES on hand, it's clear; The Phoenix Theatre Company chose well.

Plus, that unmistakable enthusiasm (and maybe even relief) for finally having an audience back in the house is incorporated into the opening moments of the show itself. When the cast first gather onstage and notice there's an actual audience watching them, with the brightest of smiles, the Cupp sisters announce, "Well, hi y'all," as they welcome us to the diner. But it's pump boy Jim (Cody Craven) who gets to the heart of the matter. "More importantly," he loudly declares with arms open wide as he steps forward and takes center stage, "Welcome back to the Phoenix Theatre!" Our sentiments exactly.

Photo credit to TPTC

The Phoenix Theatre Company ~ https://www.phoenixtheatre.com/ ~ 1825 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ ~ 602-254-2151

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