Mar 6

Mar 6 Church Basement Ladies at SART

Bruce Steele: I'm naturally suspicious of small-scale musical comedies on the community theater circuit, but I was won over by Church Basement Ladies, now playing at the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre in Mars Hill. Did it make you laugh?

Edwin Arnaudin: Early and often! Based on Growing Up Lutheran and other books by the team of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, the content is a near-ideal fit for Western North Carolina audiences who enjoy folksy, heartwarming tales. The single-setting format where we catch up with a handful of characters over the course of a few years reminds me of Flat Rock Playhouse's similarly funny and touching production of Always a Bridesmaid, but with the bonus of musical numbers ranging from zany to sweet. Did the tunes bring a smile to your face, too?

Bruce: I thought the songs were toe-tappingly melodic and quite clever — I laughed a lot — but I would add that this is closer to sketch comedy than to Broadway musical theater. The songs are not intended to advance the plot as much as to illustrate the quirky culture and values of mid-century Lutheran church ladies, and they are generally staged as addressing the audience, not the characters.

Edwin: Agreed, though there’s a good deal of chemistry and believable history between the four generations of women. Delina Hensley’s menopausal Mavis Gilmerson cracked me up the most with her goofy inflections, playfully naive (but always good-natured) observations, and physical comedy. Tabitha Judy is also delightful as tradition-minded elder Vivian Snustad, especially in the second act when her frustrations with modern ways erupt, while Kathleen Watson and Kaleigh Jackson have such convincing rapport as Karin and Signe Engleson that they very well might be a real-life mother-daughter team.

Bruce: And then there’s William Tyler Ezzell, who is entirely credible and pastoral as preacher E.L. Gunderson, the only man in the cast. He also takes the lead for what I thought was one of the best numbers, “Song for Willie,” a heartfelt elegy to the church’s late maintenance man. It proves songwriter Drew Jansen can do a serious, storytelling song as well as he does the silly ones.

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‘Song for Willie’

…a heartfelt elegy to the church’s late maintenance man, proves songwriter Drew Jansen can do a serious, storytelling song as well as he does the silly ones.

Edwin: And there are plenty of the latter! Early on, in the wake of “The Pale Food Polka,” I wondered if every song was going to be food-related, but Church Basement Ladies wisely shifts to more diverse subject matter, as well as a reasonable range of song styles. Under Samantha LeBrocq’s thoughtful direction, everyone gets a chance to shine to Chelsea Cribbs’ piano and organ amidst Richard Seagle’s realistic set, but beyond the bevy of jokes (esoteric Lutheran and otherwise), do you think the story will stick to theatergoers’ ribs like the characters’ butter-heavy dishes?

Bruce: I think they’ll come away charmed but unable to say what the show is really about, other than Lutheran church foibles circa 1964. There’s not a lot of plot line here, and when it finally does commit to narrative complications, in the final scene, it just gets bogged down in half-baked farce for a few minutes until it extricates itself for the sweet finale.

Edwin: I’m pretty much with you about the ending, which suffers a bit from the sudden leap forward in months, forcing a lot of new information to come to light in a short amount of time. I also wasn’t sure what to do during the curtain call — an awkward mix of singing and audience-participation clapping-to-the-beat that doesn’t give the hard-working cast the kind of focused applause it deserves.

Bruce: I’m always in favor of a straight-forward curtain call — preferably followed by a rendition of “Waterloo.” Confused though they were, the audience on opening night clearly enjoyed the show and gave a generous ovation. It was especially fun to be in the sea of accents that represents Western North Carolina, invited to laugh — more with than at — the church ladies’ Minnesota lilt. With the abundance of church ladies and their families in these parts, I expect word-of-mouth to be especially kind to this show.

Edwin: It’s a shame that it’s only onstage through next Sunday afternoon, so I strongly suggest that interested parties reserve their tickets now — and go with as big of a group as they can find. Church Basement Ladies is the kind of production meant to be experienced with friends and loved ones and, just as importantly, gets SART’s 2020 season off to a strong start.

Church Basement Ladies runs through March 15 at SART. For tickets and more information, visit sartplays.com.

(Photos by Cheyenne Dancy, courtesy of SART)