If you’re looking for a homey place to catch some good eats, strong coffee and spirited repartee, get your tickets to see Mountain Community Theater’s production of “The Spitfire Grill,” now playing at Park Hall through April 5.
This musical takes visitors through seasons and serenades surrounding the grill, which is located in the small town of Gilead, Wisc.—not at all different from the very towns found in the San Lorenzo Valley.
The owner of the struggling grill, Hannah Ferguson (played by Kathryn Adkins), has a son, Eli, who has been missing in action since the Vietnam War, and her world has become a morass of hurt surrounded by a hardened heart as she navigates the days of running the grill. Enter Percy Talbott (Emerson Kapture), a recent parolee from a prison in Maine. She’s landed in Gilead hoping to find a fresh start and a path towards redemption.
Ferguson’s gruff and negative nature is softened by Percy’s assistance running the grill, and shortly, a third townsperson (Shelby Thorpe, played by Luna Lau) arrives to round out the crew of employees. As Hannah heals from a fall in the grill, the three women develop a camaraderie that lifts Hannah from her despair, and an idea born by Percy brings some light into Hannah’s world: what if the grill held a raffle to sell it off? Send in a letter pleading one’s case and a check for $100, and entrants can be in the running to win the grill, providing a new opportunity for some while releasing the strain of running the restaurant from Hannah’s shoulders.
The cast is rounded out by Shelby’s husband Caleb (played by Brady Aiello), an up-to-no-good misogynist who sees more value in what his wife does for him than how she contributes to the greater good; Sheriff Joe Sutter (John Wasielewski) who stops in for his morning coffee while taking a not-so-subtle-but-very-sudden liking to Percy; and Effy Krayneck (Mindy Pedlar), who is not only the town’s postmistress but also a purveyor of gossip.
As word of the raffle spreads, hope and promise return to the tables of the grill, elevating Hannah’s dream of finding a way out from beneath the burden of the restaurant.
With the entire production a musical, some of the songs feel somewhat shoe-horned into the story, but the cast does an admirable job of capturing the essence of each song, and the harmonies that Percy and Shelby share are uplifting in their own right. Individually, their voices are melodic and soar into the trees that surround the grill’s foundation.
The stories that haunt Percy and the rest of the cast bring an air of redemption to the production, and the ending is akin to a Walton’s Family episode, with one theatergoer nodding, “That’s just how it should have ended.”
There were some inconsistencies on opening night, but the cast and crew will undoubtedly endeavor to address them by week two, thereby providing an inspiring story for all in more ways than one.
“The Spitfire Grill” takes place at Ben Lomond’s historic Park Hall, 9400 Mill St. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm and Sunday matinees are at 2pm. Information and tickets are available at mctshows.org.
