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‘Church Basement Ladies’: familiar look, new songs
By ERIC MCCREA
SALEM
Salem Community Theatre is continuing its Season of Emotion with the hilarious “A Second Helping: The Church Basement Ladies Sequel.”
All the characters from the first helping return with new songs and zany jokes. As they tend to the basement kitchen of the West Cornucopia Lutheran Church, their fearless leader, Vivian Snustad, played by Lori George, seems to disapprove of everything. Her counterpart Mavis, played by the Rev. Kari Lankford, is the Oscar to Vivian’s Felix.
When Beverly (Tara Holl) returns home from “the Cities” with thrilling news, her mother, Karin (Ruth Newman), is on cloud nine. All the while, Pastor Gunderson, played by David Bedell, does his best to keep the ladies happy.
Despite a packed house, the cast members had a rough time finding their stride in the first act. Lines weren’t landing with the audience and it seemed to slow them down. By the second act, they had rallied and finished the show with a bang.
Lankford was once again impressive. She got some of the biggest laughs and struggled the least in the first act. Her timing was spot-on and was a huge part in saving the second act.
Holl was charming in the youngest role. She had a delightful voice and her song “Cardamom” was one of the few memorable ones.
Bedell had a personality that was turned up to 11. He was a big hit with the audience and his energy was contagious. His dance skills were put to the test and he knocked it out of the park.
George was incredible as usual. While she may have been more sweet than stern in this role, her sweetness was genuine and made watching her enchanting. She wasn’t always believable playing beyond her years, but she was hilarious.
Newman had the toughest time in the first act, showing difficulty with one of her songs, but her recovery in the second act was substantial. Her reprise of “Cardamom” was touching and heartfelt.
The set looked similar, if not identical, to Salem’s production of the original last spring. The vintage appliances were fantastic and the Tupperware made the room feel authentic.
As with the first treatment, the songs in this sequel were lackluster. They did little to help the story and often dragged on. The cast proved capable when singing on their own, but when paired up or in groups, their voices worked against each other instead of in harmony. However, the cast impressively handled the show with little help from microphones. A single accompanist made this feasible while not shining too much light on the show’s weak point.
The plot was more interesting this time around. The story was on firm ground early in the show and gave the story more heft than the first “Basement Ladies.”
“A Second Helping” will be performed Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call the theater, 490 E. State St., at 330-332-9688.