Gimme that Ol' Time Religion: Smoke on the Mountain at the Hedgerow

Theater: Hedgerow Theatre
Show Title: Smoke on the Mountain
Opened: March 13, 2008
Seen: March 13, 2008
Reviewer: Gary Labowitz
Submitted: March 14, 2008

Hedgerow Theatre presents “Smoke on the Mountain” by Connie Ray, Make Carver & Mark Hardwick, directed by Peter Reynolds, music direction by Tom Mucchetti. March 6 – April 13, 2008.
64 Rose Valley Road, Rose Valley, PA

A lively production of spiritual mountain music has rolled into the Hedgerow gristmill and magically converted it into the Mount Pleasant Church of 1938 Mt. Pleasant, NC. It is, in the words of Bob Dylan, “a rocking, reeling, rolling ride” on the wings of bluegrass music. Assaulted with rousing, heartfelt testimony in songs, and peppered with down home comic monologues, the audience clapped, shouted, and left this show well seasoned “in the spirit” of joy. Yee haw!!

The show is built on a thin “plot” of a local Baptist church in Mt. Pleasant being visited during its Sunday service by the Sanders family, a troupe of country gospel musicians (singing and playing, save one). They also have a backing duo of a guitar and fiddle/mandolin player. The only point to the show is to sing, laugh, and testify for the Lord, and lift the spirits of the audience, which this production certainly does.

Anyone who grew up listening to late night XERF, Del Rio, Texas, on the AM radio during the post WWII years would recognize some of the music used in the show. I grew up in the Midwest and heard some of the songs used in this show on other stations as well (mostly the Ozark country religious stations). Many of the numbers were new to me, but it was obvious that these were the real McCoy. (I hope so; the program gives publication credits for the songs.) The show walks the thin line between reveling in the heritage of such music and making fun of it. In our day it does seem to parody itself, but trust me — this was serious stuff to the originators.

In any event, the show succeeds because of the talent of the cast. They sing, they play (piano, double bass, guitar, violin, mandolin, autoharp, English horn – doubly funny because it isn’t English and it isn’t a horn!). All except for one cast member who doesn’t sing, but plays percussion instruments and signs for the deaf. She is truly sorry there aren’t any deaf members in the audience, but she bravely carries on. Cast members also take a turn witnessing, which gives each a comic monologue that solidly transports us to the era of 1938.

The director, Peter Reynolds, has the cast enter and exit using the aisles, which gave me the feeling of “dinner theater.” This involvement of the audience (excuse me, the congregation) was carried through with actors speaking directly to specific members of the church, and picked up by some members of the audience (excuse me, the congregation) with an occasionally shouted “Amen.” Good, clean fun. (But where’s my steak?)

Newton Buchanan as Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe was terrific in his emotional ups and downs and did as much with his facial expressions as with his speech. He is a funny guy who established the feeling of the show from the start. The Sanders family, headed by the mother and father (April Woodall as Vera and Nathan Ohm as Burl) did a great job as the spiritual country bumpkins, leading their family through the Depression. The twins (Justin Damm as Dennis and Elena Bossler as Denise) were delightful as 16 year olds awakening to the coming modern age. They still had the naiveté of their upbringing, but were clearing developing a growing interest in expanding their vision beyond the hill country. Denise’s monologue about her trip to Charlotte to audition for “Gone with the Wind” is a beaut! (This was an actual stunt of the David Selznick studio; see: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood for more.)

Jenny Jacobs as June, however, steals the show. The other actors work hard, but it’s difficult to trump June’s winning shyness, her humorous percussionist jobs, her flamboyant signing for the deaf, and her scrambling around the set at any and all times (even during the others’ solos). It’s a hellava part and a hellava debut at Hedgerow for Ms. Jacobs.

Feeling down? Want a lift? Hungry for some fun? This show is it, and it is truly well done at Hedgerow. But eat elsewhere first!