The Spitfire Grill

Atmosphere is everything in a musical about small town life, and director Nick DeGruccio captures it throughout this Laguna Playhouse production. From David Edwards' haunting sound effect of a distant train, to Raymond Kent's re-creation of a restaurant so real you can almost taste the eggs and coffee, this rendition puts a positive spin on the movie's dark story.

Atmosphere is everything in a musical about small town life, and director Nick DeGruccio captures it throughout the Laguna Playhouse production of Lee David Zlotoff’s 1996 Sundance Audience winner “The Spitfire Grill.” From David Edwards’ haunting sound effect of a distant train, to Raymond Kent’s re-creation of a restaurant, with booths, counters and range so real you can almost taste the eggs and coffee, this West Coast premiere puts a positive spin on the movie’s dark story and creates a show with much more universal appeal.

Percy Talbott (Misty Cotton) provides the central focus, as an ex-convict who served five years for manslaughter and winds up in Gilead, Wisc. Town sheriff Joe Sutter (Kevin Earley) sets her up as a waitress at the Spitfire Grill, owned by cantankerous Hannah Ferguson (Jomarie Ward). Inevitably, the town views Percy as a dangerous intruder, particularly Hannah’s overbearing nephew, Caleb (Michael Piontek) and local gossip Effy (Linda Kerns). Percy’s defensiveness doesn’t help her popularity, but she eventually bonds with Caleb’s mistreated wife Shelby (Kim Huber) and stirs romantic impulses in Sheriff Sutter.

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As the embittered Percy, Misty Cotton successfully suggests a grief-stricken young girl hidden under an angry facade. Cotton is matched by radiant Kim Huber as her ally, Shelby, and Kevin Earley is a strong, charismatic figure as the sheriff. Jomarie Ward admirably tackles that old cliche — the critical old dragon with a heart of gold — skillfully sidestepping traps of excess crustiness or sentimentality.

Michael Piontek is excellent as Shelby’s domineering husband, adding a needed harsh edge to the show’s sunshine, and Linda Kerns gets big laughs as the loose-tongued Effy.

Valcq’s numbers are consistently exciting, aided by carefully devised orchestrations. More than most musicals, the underscoring feels like an extra character, brimming with creative cello, violin, mandolin, guitar and keyboard solos. Valcq’s actual melodies, though infectious and lively, tend to be harmonically repetitive and lack conventional hooks, and the embroidery of his instrumentation fleshes them out. Fred Alley (who died in 2001) wrote lyrics that contain the ring of plain-spoken, believable truth.

Director DeGruccio is also choreographer, and he guides the cast fluidly around the stage so that their constant interaction has the pulsing flow of dance. “Ice and Snow,” pairing Piontek and Earley, employs his clever choreographic concept of two men using axes, hoes, chains and pipes as percussion instruments. Other highlights include Earley’s spine-chilling “Forest For the Trees,” and Kim Huber’s poignant “Wild Bird,” sung to an emotionally shattered Percy. “Something’s Cooking at the Spitfire Grill” is a toe-tapping show stopper. When Hannah, Percy and Shelby hold a nationwide raffle, intending to sell the Grill to the best correspondent, they belt out an Act One closer, “Shoot The Moon,” that features a vibrant image of performers tossing a blizzard of letters in the air.

A major accomplishment of the show is its ability to incorporate darkly serious subplots without turning them into melodrama. Book (by Valcq and Fred Alley) poses unanswered questions in every scene: Who did Percy kill? Who is the mysterious stranger that creeps outside the restaurant at night? Will aging, disillusioned Hannah sell? It’s a tribute to DeGruccio’s realistic approach that these answers don’t have a fairytale flavor.

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