by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
I want you to promise me, right now, that you will consider going to see the current Orange Park Community Theatre production First Baptist of Ivy Gap before it closes on March 24th. Don’t be put off by the title and think that this show is just about religion. I found it to be a wonderful mix of pathos and humor and a very delightful evening of theatre.
The play opens during WWII in the fellowship hall of the First Baptist Church of Ivy Gap, Tennessee. Six women gather to roll bandages and plan for the church’s 75th anniversary.
The six women are all very distinctive characters. Edith, the pastor’s wife, dispenses wisecracks, advice and Red Cross aprons and hats. Julie Myers is delightful as Edith. She is believable, likable and quite good in her stage debut (her first and only other time on stage was 23 years ago at age 6). Andi Ciccotelli as the widowed Luby is the most serious of the women, and rightfully so since her son Norman is a soldier in a war zone.
Brenda Cohn is Vera, who has a rich husband with political connections and family secrets of her own.
Kristen Walsh, a student at Ridgeview High School, is wonderful as Olene Wiffer, a young woman who wants to go to Hollywood to be a star.
Rhodie Jackson, as Mae Ellen, is the church organist, who also wants to leave Ivy Gap to lead a more exciting life where she can expand her musical talents and ideas. Ms. Jackson’s role provides a lot of the humor in the show.
Crystal Dawn Banks is Sammy Porter, the only woman who is not a member of the church. This shy and demure lady has a secret of her own concerning Luby’s soldier son.
Act II; same place, but the fellowship hall has been remodeled and there is a different war: the Vietnam War. It is 1970 and the church is celebrating its l00th anniversary.
All the ladies come back, with three played by new actresses and three repeating their roles, only 25 years older. Ms. Ciccotelli is back as Luby, her son now dead from war wounds, and she looks older with white hair and wrinkles. Brenda Cohn is back as Vera, with gray hair, but otherwise looking the same (moral: you can fight the aging look if you have enough money). Organist Mae Ellen Rhodie Jackson is back, sporting an Afro and new clothing; she has not had a new career but has had a lot of boyfriends.
Lisa Johnson plays the l970 version of Edith, the preacher’s wife, and like Ms. Myers, she is new to acting, but you would not believe it from her performance. She is animated and very witty. Kala Hinton is the l970s Sammy and does as remarkable job of portraying the same personality traits as Ms. Banks had in l945.
Christy Baker is the l970s version of Olene, and she made it to Hollywood, but not to the motion pictures, and now she is now in show business (well sort of, but I won’t tell since it is quite a surprise).
There are a number of subplots that make this a very interesting play but I will let you discover them when you see the show.
Director Barbara Wells has done a remarkable bit of casting and each woman seems just right for the role they are playing. The resemblances between the three women playing the l945 and the l970 versions of the same person are uncanny.
Director Wells has added something very unique to facilitate the scene changes. She has radio news reporters in front of the curtain reading news items. Sure beats sitting there looking at a closed curtain. Although there are three reporters, Steve Cohn, Richard Sheffler and Kristoffer Knapp, only Knapp was there last Saturday. The “news” chosen was human-interest items (such as Picasso disinheriting his son and daughter, and something about Tolstoy). They were somewhat interesting, but I was disappointed as I expected hard news about the war or stories that would have given the audience a better picture of the periods involved.
Barbara Wells and her husband David designed the very appropriate and neat set with David handling the lighting design. I liked the change from l945 to l970, which consisted of adding paneling to the wall and some other decorations.
Blynn Stevens coordinated the costumes, and Act I was a 40s fashion show for the ladies. Erin Silas and Sue Pope provided some expert assistance with the makeup and the hairstyles as well, no doubt.
There is lot of funny lines in the show, I loved preacher’s wife’s line: “You don’t have to know how to swim to be a Baptist.” The play is also about loss of life, relationships and dreams. Overall it is upbeat with a happy ending. A very different kind of play that I highly recommend you check out.
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