A Balm Comes to Gilead, in Wisconsin.
In these times of despair on so many fronts, Taproot Theatre opened The Spitfire Grill, this weekend, with a theme of hope for a small town, a failing business and the “sin-sick souls” who lived in the town and frequented the local diner, which resembled a darker version of The Chatterbox Café from Prairie Home Companion fame.
Written by James Valcq and Fred Alley and adapted from a film by Lee David Zlotoff, the musical follows a familiar formula for hopeful tales. A somewhat mysterious stranger, with a less than respectable past, comes to live in a small town, and is transformed by the small town. In turn, the mysterious stranger is a catalyst for change for both the town itself and the individuals.
Everybody in Gilead, WI, benefited when a very young female ex-con Percy Talbott, played with both hardened cynicism and delightful naiveté by Sarah Garcia, comes to work at the Spitfire café, named after the small airplanes who won the Battle of Britain against the gargantuan Luftwaffe in World War II. As in any small town, where the concept of privacy does not exist, every character has some highly secret inner demon they are guarding from others and themselves.
Our ex-con, takes a job as a waitress at the Spitfire Grill, whose owner has been trying to sell it for years, but cannot find a buyer because the town’s major industry, a quarry, has closed. After overhearing a flippant remark that they couldn’t even raffle it off, Percy, as an outsider, thinks out of the book, and takes the remark seriously and decides to raffle it off the diner nationally. Since she has rather fallen in love with small town life and the closeness to nature, (the last thing Wisconsin is, is flat and ugly) she writes a glowing report of the town in the advertising. As a result, there is a shift in the local population’s view of the town and their respective places in it, resulting in them all re-assessing their lives.
Unlike many musicals, the story itself could have stood on its own, as it had everything for a compelling plot and character driven play. Its setting had inherent conflict-a small town with declining economic circumstances as well as realistic characters responding to a catalyst to change.
However the lovely music was not extraneous. Composed by Fred Alley and played by a small band consisting of Keyboardist/Conductor Michael Matlock, Guitar/Mandolinist Anthony Pooley, Violinist Valerie Tung and Cellist Mathew Tevenan, it was a brilliant combination of instruments and punctuated the sadness as well as the joys with precision.
Richard Lorig’s set design was quite impressive, it was totally authentic looking and serviceable, and allowed Director Scott Nolte to create all the social dynamics of small town life in a small space. Without any special effects, Nolte added some simple creative touches to mark the passage of time and the drastic changes in the weather one experiences in the upper Midwest (Burr!!!)
Mark Lund’s sound design, especially the pre-show music, served the production well. Dialect coaching by Gin Hammond was right on the money, the lead actress’ West Virginia accent was perfect, and Hammond rendered the pronunciation of Prairie du Chien, a town on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, into the authentic Midwestern mangled pronunciation Prairie du SHEEN. (C’est vrai)
Although not a particularly likeable character as the town’s gossip, Marlette Buchanan as Effy Krayneck, put in a spectacular performance both as a singer and as a comedian, but the character did have her good side, as she was rather perceptive and in the end rather sympathetic.
This show is not everybody’s cup of tea, but it is well done, with a few moral lessons and highly entertaining. Frankly, it made a welcome break from the news from Eastern Europe, and reading about all the crime in Seattle.
The Spitfire Grill, Taproot Theatre 212-N-85th St. Seattle, WA 98103 (Greenwood) • Tues/Wed/Thur, 7:30 PM; Fri/Sat, 8:00 PM; Sat matinee, 2:00 PM Thru Apr. 30. PWYC, Mar. 30, 7:30, Midweek Matinées TuesMar 29, Wed Apr. 20 Tickets: . Tickets will be available online at taproottheatre.org, by phone 206.781.9707 (Tue-Sat, noon-5:00 PM)
Vaccination certificates or recent negative COVID test necessary for entrance
Masks required