Country goes pop in musical at Cabaret.
Byline: The Register-GuardPLAY PREVIEW Pump Boys and Dinettes What: Broadway musical set in a Southern diner Where: Actors Cabaret, 996 Willamette St. When: Opens 8 p.m. Friday; then 8 p.m. Saturday and Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 30; also 2 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 24. Tickets: $17 reserved, $14 general admission, $32.95 includes dinner, Sunday brunch seating $30.95, 683-4368
True story: Back in the early 1980s, a group of friends with Southern connections and allegiances who happened to be working at a restaurant in New York got together and wrote a pop country musical.
"Pump Boys and Dinettes," a revue based on their experiences working at the Cattleman Restaurant, opened on Broadway in 1982. It ran for 573 performances, drawing a Tony nomination for best musical.
The original cast of `Pump Boys and Dinettes' consisted of a group of friends: John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. They wrote the musical, starred in the Broadway run and directed it as well.
In case you missed the fun - or want to hear it again - "Pump Boys" returns to Actors Cabaret on Friday for a three-weekend run. The show had its Northwest premiere at the theater in 1986.
In the play's story, the Pump Boys sell high octane on Highway 57 in Grand Ole Opry country. The Dinettes, Prudie and Rhetta Cupp, run the Double Cupp Diner next door.
The Eugene show is directed by Joe Zingo, with musical direction by Mark Van Beever. It stars Amanda Fackrell as Rhetta Cupp, Michelle Sellers as Prudie Cupp, Van Beever as LM, Colin Gray as Eddie, Tyler Holden as Jackson and Tony Joyner as Jim.
The show drew rave reviews in the national media.
"It doesn't merely celebrate the value of friendship and life's simple pleasures," a reviewer in The New York Times said. "It embodies them.
`When the inevitable `closing time' comes along, you'll wish you could stay awhile longer," the Christian Science Monitor echoed.
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| Title Annotation: | Entertainment |
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| Publication: | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) |
| Date: | Sep 14, 2006 |
| Words: | 334 |
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