Small Town Emotional Immensity

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Sunset Playhouse 'The Spitfire Grill'

Sunset Playhouse 'The Spitfire Grill'

The Sunset Playhouse welcomes the first month of autumn with a simple musical about starting over in a small town. Based on the 1996 indie film of the same name, The Spitfire Grill is a humble little musical set in small, fictional town of Gilead, Wisconsin. Eliza Lambert conjures a slow, steady emotional strength to the stage in the role of Percy Talbot, a woman who has just been released from prison who is looking to begin the next chapter of her life.

Marilyn I. White plays to the warmer edge of Hannah. She’s in charge of the only restaurant in town. It’s up to her to take in Percy and get her settled in whole new existence. White and Lambert manage a subtly resonant connection through the respectful distance that grows between the women. Katie Gruell lends balance to the central cast in the role of Shelby Thorpe, a resident of the town who helps out when Hannah sustains an injury going up a flight of stairs. Josh Scheibe amplifies a solemn small-town restlessness as Shelby’s husband Caleb, who has some difficulty accepting the fact that his wife has found a life outside the home.

Director Michael Pocaro has fostered a beautiful small-town dynamic for the small cast. Matt Carr’s set makes use of the Sunset main stage’s size to render a Gilead that manages to feel small and intimate without compromising the wide-open spaces conjured-up through photos projected against a large backdrop. A massive emotional weight to the story that is delicately anchored into place by Music Director Mark Mrozek.

Sunset Playhouse’s production of The Spitfire Grill runs through Sept. 25 at Furlan Auditorium, 700 Wall St., Elm Grove. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.