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'Pump Boys' Pumped With Music: Little Effort Made to Develop Plot, Characters

Posted on: Thursday, 23 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By A. Waller Hastings, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Mar. 23--The new show at the Capitol Theatre plays a bit like the lead act at a (very) small county fair, but with rather more furniture.

"Pump Boys and Dinettes," sponsored by Aberdeen Community Theatre, is billed as a country music revue, with the emphasis decidedly on the music. Unlike other revues that have played Aberdeen in recent years, this one moves quickly from one number to the next without working too hard to develop sustained narrative scenarios.

This makes for a fast-paced and mostly enjoyable show -- there are certainly worse ways to spend an hour and a half. It's just hard sometimes to tell whether it is intended as a parody or a tribute to country music and the working folks that make up country's fans.

It's not for lack of trying. The six cast members, recruited by the Iowa Touring Theatre Company from all across the country, adopt passable "southern" accents and certainly look the part of their characters -- four workers at a rural garage and two sisters who operate the nearby diner.

But there is little purpose to the elaborate set and costuming, which reflect the show's conceit that these are genuine working folks who just happen to have a band. The performance would be little different presented as a straight concert act.

Some jokes and songs are built around the garage/diner premise, but none of the humor is developed into a full-fledged skit, and the songs are delivered without much dramatic action.

The revue includes some loving evocations of genuine country music, most beautifully on the plaintive duet "Sister," performed by Jessica Bradish and Kate Willer (Rhetta and Prudie Cupp), with its poignant lament, "You were a stranger then, you're a stranger to me now."

But while the song is lovely, it doesn't evolve out of any dramatic situation within the show; the sisters never seem that alienated from one another.

Affection for country music turns to parody a few minutes later when the "sisters" join with Kevin Ray (Pump Boy L.M.) in "Farmer Tan," which seems to mock the very demographic the show's music depends on. So the question remains, is it tribute or parody?

Also unlike recent touring revues, this one includes no music you are likely to have heard of -- it is all original to this show, and to my knowledge, none of the songs have broken out into independent airplay.

Some numbers show good potential, however. Especially noteworthy are the rockabilly ballad "Mona," the bluesy "Serve Yourself," and "T.N.D.P.W.A.M." ("The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine"), a funny-tender tribute to country fandom.

Alas, on several numbers the singer's voices were drowned out by the band or too thin to deliver the songs with full effect, although the performers' musicianship throughout was solid.

Recommendation? If your idea of a good show is a lot of familiar tunes, a coherent plot, or well-developed comic sketches, there's not much for you here. If you enjoy generic country music, it's worth the time and the ticket price to check it out.

"Pump Boys and Dinettes" will be playing at 7:30 tonight, Friday, and Saturday at the Capitol Theatre, 415 S. Main St., with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Copyright (c) 2006, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

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Source: American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

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