Preview: TAP YOUR FEET WITH THE “PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES” AT THE LYRIC THEATRE
There’s a rest stop on Highway 57 that offers more than the average respite from a long drive. Stop for gas and eats and you just might get more than you bargained for from the Cupp sisters who run the Double Cupp Diner and the four men who work the gas station next door. Together they serve up bouncy tunes and lots of fun in the hit Broadway musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes.”
“Pump Boys and Dinettes,” written by Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, Jim Wann, Jack Foley, Mark Hardwick, and Debra Monk, is directed by Sid Perkes. It opens June 28 at the Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center Street, Logan, and is the third offering of the season by the Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC). Curtain is at 8 p.m.
Tickets for OLRC performances are available at the Utah State University Spectrum Ticket Office (435-797-0305) during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) or at the Customer Service Center of the USU Taggart Student Center, room 212 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Tickets may also be purchased at the Lyric box office one hour before curtain on performance nights for that evening’s production only. The Lyric box office is also open at 4 p.m. on Saturdays for Saturday performance tickets.
“Pump Boys and Dinettes” made its debut off-Broadway in the fall of 1982. After only four months of sell-out shows, the creators took it to Broadway, where it was nominated for the Tony Award for best musical of 1982. In addition to its Tony nomination, it received four Drama Desk nominations, including best musical of 1981-82. The group that conceived “Pump Boys and Dinettes” was also responsible for “Diamond Studs,” which has also been performed on the Lyric stage.
This play is generally regarded as a country-western musical, “but it’s really not,” says director Sid Perkes. “It has a very down home feeling, but the songs are a mixture of blues, rock and roll and ballads. It is a nice mixture.”
Perkes also said that “we are doing this because the timing was right. This show is a little more difficult to do because the singers also need to be musicians, and this year we have people in the company who are. It is very difficult to find smaller musicals and this fits the bill. There are others like ‘Nunsense’ and ‘Forever Plaid,’ but we have done those quite recently.”
“We are setting ‘Pump Boys’ in the eighties,” continues Perkes. “The show was written then, so it has a distinctive feel for that time. We wanted to capture that quality. It won’t be exactly like the original Lyric version, of course, since all singers bring their own style to a role and they need to be allowed to make the role their own. We want to make sure we keep the wonderful innocent quality that the show has.”
Heading the cast is returning OLRC member Christopher Glade as Jackson who plays lead guitar when he’s not pumping gas. Glade can also be seen in the OLRC productions “Peg O’ My Heart” and the upcoming “The Lion in Winter.”
Helping out at the pumps is Eric J. VanTielen, who spends his extra time tickling the ivories. VanTielen is also a returning OLRC member who can be seen in this year’s “Peg” and “The Lion in Winter.”
Singing along next door at the diner is Vanessa Ballam Brenchley as Prudie Cupp and Arika Schockmel as Rhetta Cupp, who serve up rhythms on their pots and pans. Brenchley and Schockmel can also be seen in the OLRC production of “Peg O’ My Heart.”
Helping out around the station is Chad Lee Huckaby, making his OLRC debut as Eddie, the bass guitarist in their little ensemble. Also joining in on guitar is returning member Jon Savage who can also be seen in “Peg” and “The Boys Next Door.”
Premium seating for single tickets is $15 for adults, $13 for USU faculty/staff/senior citizens/youth (under age 18) and $10 for USU students. Further information regarding ticket prices may be obtained at any of the box office locations. Children under age 6 are not admitted.
“Pump Boys and Dinettes” opens Thursday, June 28, with additional performances June 29, 30, July 5, 7, 21, 25, August 1 and 3. Evening performances begin at 8 p.m. and each play in the summer season includes a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee performance. The matinee of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” is July 21.
The fourth show of the season, James Goldman’s “The Lion in Winter,” opens July 11, and then all shows will alternate performance dates through August 4
The Old Lyric Repertory Company is a production program for advanced students in the Department of Theatre Arts at Utah State and is supported by grants from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, Balleine Supporting Organization, Utah Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Logan, Anne Kennedy Roskelley Memorial Endowment, Dr. Ezekial R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Endowment and the Utah Arts Council.
Group sales, tours and specialty lectures can be arranged by calling 797-1500.