Through Sun 10/18
After the popularity of Orange is the New Black, the idea of a female convict and the problems she will encounter isn’t as new as it was in 1996 when Lee David Zlotoff’s film The Spitfire Grill came out.
Today that idea alone isn’t enough to carry this re-envisioning film-to-stage adaptation by James Valcq and Fred Alley. But the Beck Center’s production, directed by William Roudebush, emphasizes much of what is heartwarming in this musical tale — community, forgiveness, hope — and perhaps that effort will be enough in the end.
The Spitfire Grill relates a version of life in a small Wisconsin town filled with unsuccessful people running failing businesses (most especially the Spitfire Grill). The one continuing and successful business in town is the United States Post Office; it is through a post-office enhanced miracle that lives are redeemed.
The tuneful score (albeit a bit repetitious since characters are given themes that repeat whenever they sing) has a semi-folksy sound, often sweetly plaintive, as in the opening song when lovely Neely Gevaart as Percy Talbott plans her new life out of prison. Percy decides to change her life and move to tiny Gilead, Wisconsin. Perhaps the name “Gilead” is meant to remind audiences of the familiar hymn “There is a balm in Gilead.”
Percy’s parole officer Sheriff Joe Sutter, played as a shy, good-natured lad by Shane Patrick O’Neill, helps her find a job at the Spitfire Grill, a cafe run by aging but still feisty Hannah Ferguson (portrayed by feisty and talented Lenne Snively). When the play opens, Hannah’s not well and she snarls at everyone. Gradually she learns to appreciate others’ help when Percy, as well as son-in-law Caleb Thorpe (Dan Folino) and Hannah’s daughter Shelby Thorpe (Kate Leigh Michalski), devise a plan to help Hannah sell the cafe and retire.
Nosy, gossipy postal worker Effy Krayneck, embodied as a spirit-lifting presence by a bouncy smiley Lissy Gulick, unwittingly (and literally) serves to bring unexpected good fortune to Hannah. Derrick Winger, as The Visitor, plays a mysterious man in the woods, but it’s unclear how and why his plight connects in any important way with the rest of the story. (It was tragically clear in the film.)
To tell more would ruin the surprises built into the show (tho, of course, anyone who needs to know can follow this link. Isn’t it nice how plot summaries are no longer needed in reviews thanks to websites?
Bottom line: The Beck Center show gives viewers a lot to like, but The Spitfire Grill creators could have added more spit and more fire when they took on the daunting task of adapting an indy film.
[Written by Laura Kennelly]Lakewood, OH 44107