Together again

'Smoke on the Mountain' is a favorite with audiences, cast

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

MIDDLETOWN -- It's one of Wayside Theatre's most successful shows, and this month "Smoke on the Mountain," written by Connie Ray, Alan Bailey, Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick, will return to the stage in Middletown as the theater's fifth play of its 50th anniversary season.

With the anniversary year wrapping up this May, director Warner Crocker wanted to offer Wayside's audience some of the theater's biggest successes, all in one season.
The theater last offered "Smoke" in 2006, following it with the next two plays in the trilogy at the end of '06 and in January '08.

"'Smoke on the Mountain' is one that people still call and talk about to this day," said Thomasin Savaiano, who will reprise her role of June.

The theater had "a great turnout" last time, Crocker said, and Wayside experienced a lot of firsts during performances of "Smoke" and its sequels -- "Sanders Family Christmas" and "Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming."

Audience members would reach across the center aisle, which doubled as a church aisle, to touch the actors as if they were long-lost friends, Crocker said.

"I've never experienced anything like that before," he said. "I think it really strikes a chord with audience members in a positive way."

It's also a show audiences remember most for contributing to a tradition Wayside has of finding actors to double as musicians.

The practice keeps theater costs down, since Wayside doesn't have to hire separate musicians, but it also offers the audience a more authentic experience.

For many of the actors, "Smoke" has become its own tradition as they perform it in theaters around the country. Even those who were not in Wayside's previous productions have their own history with the play, which portrays the Sanders family in Mt. Pleasant, N.C., during the Great Depression.

"I love being back, it's such a wonderful show," Savaiano said.

"It feels like coming home," said Steve Przybylski, who will reprise his role of Dennis.
Still, the show brings something new every time they perform it, said Przybylski, also the theater's music director. "We have new instrumentation. We're going to try some new things," he said.

"It's a question of can we try to fit everything in."

Pam Pendleton, who will return as Vera, said she'll play piano, bass, mandolin, a little harmonica and the autoharp, which she describes as a string instrument Reese Witherspoon's character June Carter played in the film "Walk the Line."

Savaiano played a variety of percussion instruments for her previous performances in "Smoke" and its sequels, and this time will be no exception. She also uses sign language during the show.

Alex Sheets, as Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe, plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, saxophone and, for this show, piano. He's also learning the accordion.

"I was having so much trouble with it yesterday," he said recently, "and then I found out I was holding it upside down. But once I found that out, it wasn't so bad."

With 120 buttons for bass notes on the left hand, he said, learning the new instrument in only a few short weeks "is very tricky."

"I had never touched these things before," said Jennie Malone, who has been learning to play mandolin and bass for her role as Denise. A voice major in college, she played piano only, but since then also has learned to play fiddle and ukulele.

"I love learning new instruments," she said. "It's a great challenge."

"The only training I had [from childhood] was piano," said Pendleton, who has performed "Smoke" eight times before.

"This will be my 12th," said Bob Payne, who plays Burl. "The way I do the monologue is probably similar. ... I'm always off book. I could sit here and do the monologue right here.
"I try to add something here and there. It's always memorized, which directors are always happy to hear."

What Crocker is happy to hear is how much audiences respond to the show, which changes with every performance.

"That's the beauty of live theater," he said. People especially enjoy that the cast plays multiple instruments, he said. "It's gonna show how the show is different."

Though "Smoke" is the first in a trilogy, the cast said it stands on its own.

"All three of them stand," Pendleton said.

"You don't have to have seen the first one," Payne said. "It's like good sequels at the movies, they stand by themselves."

"These are very recognizable characters. These are characters you recognize," Przybylski said.

"I rate it five stars," Payne said. "It is classic writing."

"Connie Ray is an inspired comedy writer. ... It's all character humor and it's just great, great writing."

Wayside Theatre will present "Smoke on the Mountain" from Saturday through March 10. Performances will be Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. There will be no performance on Feb. 5, and Sunday matinees begin Feb. 12. Tickets are $25-$30 for adults and $10 for children ages 5-17. Discounts are available for full-time students, seniors and groups. For more information, call 869-1776 or visit www.waysidetheatre.org.