SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Rock Island ____________________________________________________________________________
Director Jim Hesselman’s notes in the program of SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN – which just opened at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse – say "going to the theatre and going to church have one great purpose in common…some kind of catharsis." He goes on to say, "Maybe through laughter, maybe through tears, maybe through song, the experience is there to make people feel better when they leave than when they came in."
This gospel musical, a repeat performance for Circa audiences, has the potential to live up to Hesselman’s vision – and it does just that.
Full of fine performances and lots of country gospel, this sweet little show is set in rural North Carolina in the late 1930s, at a Saturday night hymn sing featuring the Sanders Family Singers. The low-key setup provides a relaxed, congenial atmosphere, and the audience takes on the role of a congregation.
New pastor Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe (the wonderfully inventive Vaughn M. Irving) has arranged the debut of this "modern" event at Mount Pleasant Baptist, which has also just upgraded to electric lighting. The Sanders Family Singers, whose stage presence is a little rusty after an extended hiatus, arrive late for their concert. After a detailed recounting of how their bus overturned near a pickle plant, and the tale of how the family and Rev. Oglethorpe first met, the group – aided, without being asked, by the reverend – finally begins to sing.
Irving’s very physical humor elicits chuckles and outright laughs even before the rest of the cast steps onto the stage, and Kimberly Furness (as June, the non-singing member of the Sanders family) earns big laughs straight-away, too, as she describes the bus fiasco. Furness also plays a host of percussion instruments during the musical numbers, and these frequent interjections are even more hilarious than her lines. A gifted physical comedian who can work a crowd without saying a word, she is fully in her element here. Well-matched to Irving, who also earns mega-laughs without saying a word, Furness is a frequent scene-stealer.
The balance of the cast has roles that aren’t so obviously comedic, but they get to show off fine voices and plenty of skill with a range of instruments. Bob Payne does nice (and seemingly effortless) work as patriarch Burl Sanders, wielding a guitar and an unassuming manner with equal panache. Vrenda V. Lee plays Vera Sanders, the mother and pianist, with perfect reserve (though her voice is almost too pretty to be that of a country gospel lead), and even her goofy children’s story can’t blunt the sweet spirit of her performance. Lee and Payne sound particularly good together when they harmonize on "Whispering Hope."
Brad Hauskins reprises the role of Stanley, Burl’s brother, and his interpretation of this ex-con is quiet but powerfully multi-layered. His stark, unsentimental "Everyone Home But Me" is a truly moving number that is memorable beyond any other song in the show.
Jenny Stodd and Andrew Crowe play Denise and Dennis, the young Sanders twins, and both turn in very good work. The twins aren’t exactly the brightest bulbs on the Sanders family’s holiday tree, but their combined density is both charming and downright funny. Crowe is especially strong in the scene where (the incredibly shy) Dennis is called on to give a mini-sermon, and Stodd employs a clear, impressive soprano on a solo or two that sound just wonderful.
Hesselman and this cast should be justly proud of how fine a show this is, and – while a country gospel musical might not be for everyone – this is how the really good ones are supposed to turn out.
