The small, black box that is the Santa Maria Civic Theatre was abuzz with laughter on the opening night of Christmas Belles, a hilarious farce penned by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten. The ensemble of 13 strong was put through its paces, but met the challenging, fast-paced production with a skill astonishing for an all-volunteer theater troupe.
Christmas Belles is set in the Texas town of Fayro, which is gearing up for the holiday season. Activities include Santa Claus giving photo ops at the Piggly Wiggly and the Christmas program at the Tabernacle of the Lambs Church. Most of the plot revolves around the tabernacle’s program, which, for the first time in 27 years, is being planned by a new director.
This is where we meet the star family of the show, the Futrelle sisters. The eldest of the Futrelle sisters is Honey Raye (Roxanne Ventriglia), who has hijacked the director position in a gambit to redeem her colored reputation in the small town. The middle sister, Twink (Linda Vesely), is introduced to us in a scene set in the local jail where she’s a prisoner. Though she’s decked in an orange jumpsuit, it appears she enjoys some perks by tugging at the heart strings of Deputy Sheriff Buntner (Craig Scott). The youngest of the three siblings is Frankie Futrelle Dubberly (Leslie Franklin), overdue to birth two twins, her round belly preceding her on and off stage.
All of the Futrelle family—including Frankie’s daughter Gina Jo (Erica York)—is busy helping Honey Raye prepare for the Christmas show. All except for Frankie’s husband Dub (Jim Dahmen). Dub can’t help because he’s moonlighting at the Piggly Wiggly as Santa Claus, where the interim pastor at the Tabernacle of the Lamb Justin Waverly (John Bravo) is his reindeer sidekick and photographer. Waverly is struggling with building the courage to ask Dub for Gina Jo’s hand in marriage, something we learn overhearing the interim pastor’s prayers, delivered with great wit by Bravo. The duo’s scene in front of the market is a perfect pocket of hilarity that sets the expectation for the rest of the play, which doesn’t disappoint.
As the Christmas program approaches, momentum builds. Twink appears with Deputy Buntner as an envoy. She comes to lend her sister a hand, but it seems she’s more preoccupied with finishing the task for which she was originally incarcerated: exacting revenge on the lover that jilted her. Honey Raye quickly finds herself in over her head, from a food-poisoned cast to her own hot flashes. All the while, Frankie is trying to help, not necessarily aided by her fertile girth, nor the fact that she’s also carrying around a secret bound to burst out like her unborn progeny.
Things always get worse before they get better, and if Honey Raye thought her show was going to redeem her reputation, she now fears it will sink it. Her fugitive sister disappears, the former director starts taking the reins, and more and more of her cast succumbs to projectile food poisoning.
These interlocking scenes gain steam and deliver laughs. From subtly hilarious digs at Southern life to the great use of physical comedy, Christmas Belles is a warm-hearted farce. Each member of the ensemble plays his or her part with gusto, reveling in the southern accents and down-home hilarity. John Shade’s direction shines throughout the fantastically chaotic story, the sum total of which is a wonderful production that everyone involved should be proud of.
Arts Editor Joe Payne was laughing like a bowl full of jelly. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 27 – Dec 4, 2013.