OnHamptonRoads - Pump Boys and Dinettes

Pump Boys and Dinettes

Written by Jeremiah Albers

Monday, 15 September 2008

Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical revue of country music that has been immensely popular with audiences since its premiere in 1982. It is a small slice of Southern, blue collar Americana. It is the kind of show where men sing a hymn to fishing licenses, and sassy diner waitresses sing about how irritating it is when people stiff them on the tip. I suppose it can be a delightful evening if you like that kind of thing. I don't. Not much. But I'm a snob, so what do I know? The large house with whom I saw the show on Wednesday night was having a great time.

The Willamsburg Players' production of the show features an energetic cast who not only sing and dance, but play the instruments as well.The Pump Boys of the title are Jim (Ed Allen), LM (Jonathan McCormick), Jackson (JT Hosack), and Eddie (Miguel Girona). They work in the garage. The Dinettes are Prudie (Rebecca Shield) and Rhetta Cupp (Jessica Krop), the sisters who wait tables in the adjoining diner.

There is no plot to speak of; as a matter of fact, there is little in the way of a book. Instead, the musical is largely a string of songs performed by the grease monkeys and waitresses, with only a few lines of dialogue to string them together. The show was written by a group of actors and singers in New York, and it was tailored to their unique talents and personalities. While the efforts of the cast in this production largely pay off, there are moments when you know that the show probably worked best with the original cast. These waitresses are not quite sassy enough, and some of the pump boys are not entirely convincing as small town Southern mechanics.

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Oh, well. The show is the songs, and the cast largely works in the music department. Each of the men play the instruments as well as sing, while the women provide percussion by playing a whole host of diner implements from tea kettles and spoons, to sugar and salt shakers. The men in the cast are better singers than the women, and manage to sing together in crisp barbershop-style harmonies, all while playing keyboards, guitars, and bass. Don't get me wrong, the women in the cast aren't bad, but their harmonies were sometimes a little off kilter, and Miss Shield's voice seemed particularly tentative; but she also seemed to be suffering from a head cold, and perhaps was just in bad voice the night I saw the show. It can happen to the best of us.

Largely the musical element of the show is sound, although the act one finale at the performance I saw somehow managed to completely fall apart, and we were sent into intermission on not such a high note. Not being a country music fan, I don't think I can fairly assess the music. I liked some of the songs better than others. For my money, "Mamaw," a ballad sung by Mr. Allen is not only the best number in the show, but the best performed one as well. Miss Shield and Ms. Krop's number "Tips" very well may be one of the worst songs ever written.

However, the show moves at a quick pace through the songs, and whether good, bad, or indifferent, no one moment lasts long enough to get stale. Director/choreographer Dana Marguiles has done a good job in what I am presuming to be her directing debut. Ms. Marguiles has choreographed shows on various stages throughout Hampton Roads, and does some good work here as well. The set design, which, so far as I can discern from my cast list, is the result of the work of Mr. Allen, Ms. Marguiles, Peter Natale, and Jim Seward, is effective, and contains very nice touches like a working juke box that plays the house music, and several antique garage and restaurant signs that provide just the right touch. The show contains other effective touches as well, such as funny program notes which need to be read to be believed, and a raffle where the winner receives a prize of dubious distinction. The friend with whom I saw the show was the lucky winner.

If I have any real complaints about the show, well, they're small.

I was a little worried about those poor Dinettes' feet, having to stand in that diner all day in character shoes.

I was a little worried about those poor Dinettes' feet, having to stand in that diner all day in character shoes. I would like to recommend to the Cupp sisters that they investigate more sensible footwear. But otherwise, if you are unlike me, and find Pump Boys and Dinettes to be the kind of evening that speaks to your entertainment needs, then there's a diner at a gas station where the employees will be fixing cars, serving coffee and pie, and enthusiastically performing country songs for your eating and listening pleasure.

Pump Boys and Dinettes runs through October 4. Call 757-229-1679 for reservations.

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