It’s musical fun with ‘Pump Boys and Dinettes’
Listen to this articleJust to add a little history and perspective to the Pump Boys and Dinettes I will begin with this little excerpt from Wikipedia.
The musical premiered on Broadway on February 4, 1982 at the Princess Theatre and closed on June 18, 1983, after 573 performances. The cast featured Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Foley, Mark Hardwick and John Schimmel. It had premiered at the Chelsea West Side Arts Theatre in 1981, moving to the Colonnades Theatre (Greenwich Village) in October 1981.
The show played in London‘s West End at the Piccadilly Theatre from September 20, 1984 to June 8, 1985 and transferred to the Albery Theatre from June 11, 1985 to September 2, 1985.[4][5] The production starred, amongst others, Paul Jones, Clodagh Rodgers, Joe Brown, Brian Protheroe, Carlene Carter and Kiki Dee.
And now this Tony nominated show has arrived in Southern California at the always pleasing Sierra Madres Playhouse. It is a country music oriented musical production embracing the relationships between friends and by and between the female workers at a dinette located conveniently across the road from a local garage/gas station with its several male workers. The thing is that every one of the pump boys is also a clearly accomplished musician and both of the waitresses at the Dinette happen to be excellent vocalists. So this show somewhat surprisingly to me I admit is essentially a country music opera. Oh but don’t get me wrong, while I was expecting — and I am not sure why — more interplay between the two groups the emphasis was clearly on abundant music.
But as the show goes on there is plenty of very entertaining music amplified with antics and indeed some intriguing relationships between the Dinettes and the Pump Boys. In the end what I believe emerges is a revelations of the joy of friendships as they develop before you. I don’t know what the off-Broadway shows were like but at the Sierra Madres Playhouse there is a great deal of interface between cast and audience, including placing three audience members on stage sitting in the restaurant and clearly very much enjoying the experience. And every audience member gets an opportunity to help the waitresses with a tip, but fear not it will cost you nothing.
In fact as I write this it has occurred to me that this is perhaps the most direct audience involvement I have ever seen in a stage show and it was pure fun. So if enjoyment is one of the major criteria for any theatrical performance then Pump Boys and Dinettesis undeniably a five-star show.
And I haven’t begun to touch upon to abundance of great singing by every single member of the cast — except the drummer who just keeps on drumming. Now if you just do not like country style music then this may not be your show. Otherwise it is as close to a must see as any performance can ever be.
I offer mega-kudos to the entire cast:
Cori Cable Kidder [Rhetta Cupp]
Jim Miller [Bobby – drummer]
Michael Butler Murray [Jim – guitar & dobro]
Sean Paxton [L.M. – Piano & Accordian]
Kevin Tiernan [Eddie – Bass]
Emily Kay Townsend [Prudie Cupp]
Jimmy Villaflor [Jackson – Guitar]
Pump Boys and DinettesIs playing now through July 29th2018 at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 West Sierra Madres Boulevard, Sierra Madre, California. Show times are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. For reservations and ticketing information call 626-355-4319 or go to their website.
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Photos by Gina Long
Ron Irwin was born in Chicago, Illinois a long time ago. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, became a trial lawyer, TV and radio host, CEO of a public company and once held an Emmy. He never won an Emmy he just held one. Ron has written and published twelve books. His most important book to date is “Live, Die, Live Again” in which Ron tells of his early life and his unexpected and very temporary death in 2012. That experience dramatically refocused his life and within the pages of that book Ron reveals how he achieved a much healthier life, ridding himself of Diabetes, Cancer and Heart Failure. Now Ron enjoys writing about many things including health topics, travel [he has circled the globe several times], adventure, culinary experiences and the world of performing art. Ron’s motto is “Live better, live longer and live stronger because it feels great and annoys others.” Contact the author.