Last weekend, Durango Arts Repertory Theatre opened a polished production of “The Spitfire Grill, A Musical.” It’s an emotionally powerful American story about second chances and should not be missed.
The 2001 musical centers on a young woman with a troubled past who chooses to live in a small town and start life over.
Having only read about Gilead, Wisconsin, in a magazine, Percy Talbott travels there and encounters people who seem to be frozen in the present with a dim future.
If this sounds like a stranger-in-town folk tale, it is. And if you haven’t heard of “The Spitfire Grill” before, there’s a compelling reason. So, see it now.
If you go
WHAT: “The Spitfire Grill, A Musical,” by James Valcq and Fred Alley, presented by the Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, co-directed by Monica DiBiasio and Jenny Fitts Reynolds.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, to Aug. 31.
WHERE: Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave.
TICKETS: Adults: $25, students $15. Aug. 25, a special Pay What You Can performance.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://tinyurl.com/yzhn5xhh or call 259-2606.
Inspired by a Lee David Zlotoff film of the same title shown at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, James Valcq and Fred Alley created a beguiling, intensely poetic stage adaptation. The team shifted the setting from Maine to Wisconsin where the creators grew up. There’s a strong sense of place with references to woods, weather and the beauty of nature. They also reduced a cast of townspeople to six, and put them into a highly melodic chamber musical with a variety of styles to propel the plot forward.
In 2000, the show had a preliminary run in New Jersey. off-Broadway previews began on Sept. 7, 2001, garnering positive reviews. Four days later, the World Trade Center attack changed everything. Broadway shut down, the country fell into mourning and recovery. The “Spitfire” run ended Oct. 14, and the show could have tumbled into Broadway history if companies all across the country hadn’t picked it up. Since 2002, “Spitfire” has been staged almost constantly by colleges and community theaters. So, thank you, DART, for bringing it to Durango.
Co-directors Monica DiBiasio and Jenny Fitts Reynolds have shaped a very tight production in which small-town yearnings plaintively surface. DiBiasio’s set is elegantly spare. Simple wood framing establishes the parameters of the Grill, a nearby forest and an implied village beyond. Every detail of light, sound and costuming serves the story. Musical directors Anita Burleson and Kat Canale have assembled strong actor-singers who enhance the emotional resonance of every song.
DART’s perfectly balanced ensemble includes a winning Lilia Reynolds as Percy Talbott. When she meets Hannah Ferguson, the disheartened café owner, portrayed by Durango’s legendary Jenny Fitts Reynolds and Lilia’s mother, it’s bittersweet. The versatile Sam Farmer portrays Sheriff Joe Sutter and movingly sings his philosophy in “Forest for the Trees.” Everyman actor Jason Lythgoe illuminates Caleb Thorpe’s vigorous working-class roots in every speech, and especially the harrowing “Ice and Snow.” Melissa Mossinghoff’s Shelby Thorpe undergoes a transformation at the Grill and beautifully sings “Wild Bird,” the most poignant ballad in the show. Isabelle Rosales, delivers Effy, Gilead’s Postmistress and town gossip, with a light touch. Ben Engler’s Visitor mysteriously weaves a silent thread through the story.
Were it not for the tragedy of Sept. 11 and Broadway shutting down back in 2001, this American musical might have become as well-known as “Oklahoma” or late, smaller ensemble musicals like “Next to Normal,” which DAC staged in 2018 and in which Fitts Reynolds played another memorable, embattled adult like Hannah Ferguson. It is to “Normal” that “The Spitfire Grill” has been compared for its fluid structure, innovative music and interdependent characters.
The show runs through Aug. 31. Extra performances were added when DART postponed “Hi-Ho Silver” to 2026.
“Spitfire Grill,” like “Drood” and “Wait Until Dark” last summer, has shown Durango to be a vibrant theater town.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
