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Prince William Little Theatre - ARCHIVE
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April 5 - 20, 2002
Pump Boys & Dinettes

Reviewed April 14
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes


Four good ol’ boys and two good ol’ gals give audiences a good ol’ time in this easy going, just for fun assembly of country music and shtick. For twenty years theater troupes of all stripes have found this amiable and good spirited package of humorous homilies and foot stompin’ songs as much fun to mount as it is for audiences to attend. First it was the writers themselves. They took it to Broadway where it was nominated for a Tony as best musical. Then professional troupes took a crack at it. Now community theaters are doing it and it is still a lot of fun.

Storyline: A country music review is set somewhere on Highway 57 between Smyrna and Frog Level in one of the Carolinas. The staff of four at the garage on one side of  Highway 57 are the Pump Boys. The two waitresses at the diner across the highway are the Dinettes. After a dozen and a half songs, few will remember if there was a story at all.

The Pump Boys for this production are lead by Pat McInerney who has the strongest voice and plays a fine guitar. Bill Schillinger handles a guitar quite well too, especially in support of the Dinette’s tender number "Sisters." Don Bellotte has the bass guitar chores but isn’t shy about stepping out front. He has an Elvis Presley impersonation in the first act and leads the ode to a "Farmers Tan" (brown arms, white chest, red neck) in the second. Chuck Perryman is the silent type, spending most of his time behind the piano or a banjo. But he breaks out with the story of "The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine."

The Dinnettes in this instance are Deb Booth and Kathy Kennett. Kennett has the country twang down pat while Booth tends toward a more legitimate theatrical voice. But they both enter into the spirit of the thing with a twinkle in their eyes and a wink.

A simple, good humored show gets a simple set that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The stripe of highway running down the back curtain and on the floor from up stage to down runs right off the lip of the stage into the audience. The garage is filled with "gone fishing" signs, cola coolers and similar items to give it a lived in feel. The diner, on the other hand, is neat and functional. The good-time feeling is even carried over into the lobby where you will find directions to Smyrna and to Frog Level.

Conceived and written by Jim Wann, Cass Morgan, Debra Monk, John Foley, John Hardwick and John Schimmel. Directed by Susy Moorstein. Musical direction by Herb Tax. Choreography by Marueen Sullivan. Design: Susy Moorstein, Janet Manning (set) Ken and Patti Crowley (lights) Anna Hawkins (sound) Susy Moorstein (costumes). Cast: Deb Booth, Kathy Kennett, Dan Bellotte, Pat McInerney, Chuck Perryman, Bill Schillinger.