RLT Cast and Crew Make The Spitfire Grill Sizzle
The North Carolina premiere of The Spitfire Grill, presented Aug. 12-28 by Raleigh Little Theatre, earned a rare (for RLT) standing ovation at the end of its Sunday matinee performance, Aug. 14th. This 2001 Off Broadway and Broadway musical, with music by James Valcq and book and lyrics by Fred Alley, is based on the award-winning 1996 movie written and directed by Lee David Zlotoff.
RLT diva Rose Martin was in fine voice and fine comic form as Hannah, the aging and sometimes grumpy proprietor of the intimate small-town grill and gathering place from which the movie and play take their titles. Staci Sabarsky was good as Percy, a young, prickly recent parolee with a terrible secret whom Hannah reluctantly employs to help out around the grill.
Brett Wilson was charming as Sheriff Joe Sutter. Assigned to supervise Percy’s parole, Joe overcame his initial reluctance and disdain for Percy as he began to see through her superficial surliness to the sensitive soul beneath the layers and layers of attitude.
Anne Butman provided welcome comic relief as Effie, the town’s super-snoopy postmistress who is strongly suspected of steaming open her fellow residents’ mail. Don Smith played Caleb, Hannah’s overprotective nephew and the nominal villain of the piece, with great feeling; Elanah Sykes provided the perfect dramatic foil as Shelby, the well-meaning, self-effacing wife who eventually learns to stand up to her bully of a husband; and Del Flack contributed a memorable cameo as The Visitor.
The savvy musical staging of RLT artistic director Haskell Fitz-Simons and the exuberant accompaniment by musical directors Lori McLelland (piano) and Diane Petteway (piano and accordion), Corrine Christison (cello), Hollis Brown and Eric Grunstrom (violins), and Charles Newkirk and Bernie Petteway (guitars) helped The Spitfire Grill sizzle. Scenic designer Rick Young’s multilevel set -- with a splendidly detailed recreation of the first-floor of the grill, inside and outside, set on a turntable -- was a wonder at ground level, but some of the scenes set on the set’s upper level -- especially the chase through the woods --were not quite so compelling.
Lighting designer Roger Bridges did his usual fine job of illuminating the action, costume designer Vicki Olson dressed the cast in an impressive assortment of New England casual wear a la L.L. Bean, and sound designer Rick LaBach demonstrated his excellence yet again.
The Spitfire Grill, which is more melodrama than musical, has no songs with Top 40 potential. Indeed, the show uses its musical interludes more to express and elaborate its characters’ inner feelings than to entertain. But the story and the score still tug at the audience’s heartstrings, and the spirited Sunday afternoon performance brought the audience to its feet at the final curtain.
Raleigh Little Theatre presents The Spitfire Grill Wednesday-Saturday, Aug. 17-20 and 24-27, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 21 and 28, at 3 p.m. in its Cantey V. Sutton Theatre, 301 Pogue St., Raleigh, North Carolina. $14 Wednesday, $17 Thursday/Sunday, and $19 Friday-Saturday evenings, except $12 Thursday evenings and Sunday matinees for students and seniors. 919/821-3111 or click here. Note: All performances are wheelchair accessible, and assistive listening devices are available for all shows. Raleigh Little Theatre: http://www.raleighlittletheatre.org/spitfire.htm. Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117718/.
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