The Spitfire Grill Sizzles
The Actor’s Playhouse season opener hits the ground running
By Tina Wyngate
From the very first note you know this musical is going to be something special. That’s because the opening song belongs to Emily Van Vliet Perea, who plays Percy Talbot, the central character of The Spitfire Grill. In the season debut for the Actor’s Playhouse, she is a stunning, mesmerizing songstress, a great presence on the upstairs stage of the Miracle Theater. This is
Van Vliet Perea’s debut for Actor’s Playhouse, and she brings Broadway level talent to the production.
Van Vliet Perea also happens to be a great actor, portraying a young woman who, after serving a five-year prison term in New Hampshire, heads off to the tiny Wisconsin town of Gilead. In town – a destination she chose based a picture cut out of a magazine – Percy gets a job waitressing at The Spitfire Grill. The grill is run by the crusty but kindhearted Hannah Ferguson
(played by Laura Turnbull) who takes a liking to the rough-edged Percy.
The overarching narrative of the musical is the story of Percy adapting to Gilead while helping Hannah get out – by figuring a clever way to help her sell the Spitfire Grill. This inadvertently brings hope to the dying town, while Percy confesses her dark secrets along the way, especially to her one Gilead girlfriend Shelby (played by Kimberly Doreen Burns). There are several subplots involving a son missing in action, a frustrated suitor, a bad husband, etc., but the gist of the story is the overcoming of small-town xenophobia and the hope of redemption.
The play itself is an adaptation of the original movie The Spitfire Grill, a 1996 Indie flick which won acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival but was never a commercial success. The film was the basis for a 2001 off-Broadway musical which, thankfully, is not nearly as dark as the original film. The adaptation, which won a Richard Rogers Award for Musical Theater, is also filled with
a delightful score of tunes by Fred Alley and James Valcq, ranging from the opening solo song “A Ring Around the Moon” by the captivating Van Vliet Perea to show-stopping ensemble numbers like “Shoot the Moon.” All are enhanced by the live band under the direction of Nick Guerrero, with violin, cello, accordion, guitar, mandolin and piano; the songs are immediately likeable, folksy with a little bit of country, but sophisticated in both lyrics and melody.
As an opening musical for the Actor’s Playhouse season, the Spitfire Grill hits all the high marks and is a testimony to the talent of artistic director David Arisco. If this is any indication of the season to come, get ready for more sparks flying.