THE SPITFIRE GRILL

Order Up!

At: The Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 U.S. Route One, Chesterfield, VA 23834

Performances: July 12 – August 2, 2025

Ticket Prices: $44-49. Ask about discounts for students, seniors, and veterans.

Info: (804) 748-5203 or https://www.swiftcreekmill.com

A Theater Reflection by Julinda D. Lewis

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s something about summer that demands a musical. I also have a soft spot for diners and shows that take place in diners. (See my review of Waitress, another summer musical set in a diner: https://jdldancesrva.com/2025/07/12/waitress/ ) The Spitfire Grill, by James Valcq (music and book) and Fred Alley (lyrics and book) is particularly heartwarming.

In his director’s notes, Tom Width sums it up: “I find the show to be ‘hometown gold’ with its themes of family, heartbreak, resilience, and redemption along with a healthy dose of downhome charm and humor – all wrapped up in a musical score that rings true to the nature of its setting.” Nothing more needs to be said, but I’ll say a few more things anyway.

A stereotypical musical often feature a predictable plot, idealized characters, romantic storylines, upbeat tunes, elaborate choreography, and a happy ending. The Spitfire Grill has many of these characteristics but neatly sidesteps familiar tropes and simplistic portrayals of characters in favor of more complex individuals involved in less familiar situations and more unpredictable relationships.

Our first glimpse of our heroine, Percy, is from behind bars, just before she is released from prison where she has spent the past five years. By the end of Act 1, the plot still has not revealed why Percy was in prison – although I had my suspicions (based on her age and the length of her sentence), which were confirmed later in Act 2 with a conversation between Percy and her new friend Shelby.

Percy is not the only character with a secret. Her new – and reluctant – employer and ultimately friend, Hannah, also carries a heavy burden she needs help to let go. Perhaps Hannah’s hip problem and subsequently fall are overly active metaphors for her crippling burden. There is, after all, a longstanding literary history of spiritual meaning attached to dislocated or injured hips associated with struggle, growth, a turning point, or transformation.

I loved the raw and genuine relationship that develops between the two women portrayed by Lindsey Zelli as the broken but remarkably resilient young woman who is Percy Talbott and Joy Williams as the no-nonsense but tenderhearted matriarch Hannah Ferguson. Offering a counter to these two is Grey Garrett as Shelby Thorpe. A bit older than Percy, Shelby lacks Percy’s grit and independence but has the advantage of discernment and comes into her own under the tempering tension created by navigating Percy’s grittiness and Hannah’s steeliness. (Hmm. This made me think of the trio of women in Waitress, as well, and how each contributed something the other lacked, but I digress.) At one point Percy says, “Do you think if a wound goes deep enough the healing can hurt just as bad as what caused it?”

Offering a welcome comedic element is Effy Krayneck, the little town of Gilead, Wisconsin’s postmistress and self-appointed gossipmonger. When there isn’t any gossip to monger, Effy just makes up some juicy tidbit to smear around the diner like jelly on toast. Since Percy is the newest resident in town, the lion’s share of gossip is about her. Tara Callahan Carroll plays this role with great timing and just the right amount of exaggeration. But even Effy’s penchant for histrionics and hyperbole has a basis in community care. From what I could tell, the people who daily gather in Hannah’s Spitfire Grill are her chosen family, the people who really matter to her.

Jeff Ashworth treads carefully and with confidence in the roll of Sheriff Joe, the town’s law enforcement as well as Percy’s parole officer, friend, and potential love interest. Percy’s rebuff of Joe’s premature marriage proposal may or may not signal an end to any romantic relationship between the two of them, but it definitely causes a ripple in the usual happily ever after ending one expects in a musical.

Likewise, “it’s complicated” could be applied to the relationship between the soft-spoken Shelby and her husband Caleb, who is played with palpable tension by Scott Melton. Caleb, who is also Hannah’s nephew and gratuitous caretaker, appears to be at least a decade older than Shelby. He clings to an outdated sense of patriarchy and is highly resistant to change. There is a lot of love in Gilead, Wisconsin, but it doesn’t necessarily seem to be the romantic kind.

And then the authors introduce a mythical, mystical supernatural element. It’s subtle yet powerful. A nameless character identified in the program only as The Visitor brings a surprise revelation. Like the concept of a dislocated hip, the concept of a “visitor” comes attached to the idea of a catalyst for change, a disruption that forces needed transformation.

The Visitor in The Spitfire Grill makes several significant appearances but never speaks. Adding to this sense of mystery, The Visitor is played by Brian Vaughan or Austen Linder. Vaughan filled the role during the Wednesday matinee I viewed and joined Zelli to beautifully recreate a scene that had special meaning for Percy, a scene that gave Percy hope as she prepared to re-enter the world after prison. I’m not aware of the authors’ intent – it could simply be a result of the character’s earlier trauma (explained in the development of the story) but setting this scene in silence was more effective than it could ever have been if The Visitor spoke.

The Spitfire Grill is folksy or country, depending on your perspective. Lines like Effy’s enigmatic “if you’ve got the thread, you’ll find the needle” make perfect sense in this atmosphere. The accents are broad, and the singing is soulful and haunting. At one point, as Percy sings about jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, Lindsey Zelli quite casually holds a note for an impressively long time while swatting flies with a spatula. Drawn together by the unlikely device of a raffle, the cast moved together like a well-oiled ensemble through director Tom Width’s simple but genuine set. There seemed to be a concerted effort to portray real people that stirred the edges of our collective memory, rather than characters acting for our entertainment, and that’s what made The Spitfire Grill so satisfying. Order up!

Here’s a link to a video preview of The Spitfire Grill: https://www.facebook.com/swiftcreekmilltheatre/videos/1486417315855918 or www.swiftcreekmill.com

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Julinda D. Lewis, EdD is a dancer, minister of dance,  teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater and dance, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally gets to perform.

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THE SPITFIRE GRILL

Music & Book by James Valcq

Lyrics & Book by Fred Alley

Based on the filmy Lee David Zlotoff

Directed by Tom Width

CAST

Lindsey Zelli              as Percy Talbott

Jeff Ashworth           as Sheriff Joe

Joy Williams             as Hannah Ferguson

Grey Garrett             as Shelby Thorpe

Tara Callahan Carroll          as Effy Krayneck

Scott Melton             as Caleb Thorpe

Brian Vaughan or Austen Linder as The Visitor

Catherine McMullan           U/S for Percy Talbott

ORCHESTRA

Shellie Johnson       Keyboard Conductor

Finn Koehler             Synthesizer

Chris Johnston        Violin

Ed Drake                   Guitar/Mandolin

CREATIVE TEAM

Directed by Tom Width

Musical Direction by Shellie Johnson

Scenic Design by Tom Width

Lighting Design by Steve Koehler

Costume Design by Maura Lynch Cravey

Technical Direction by James Nicholas

PRODUCTION STAFF

Producing Artistic Director …. Tom With

Lead Carpenter ….. Peter Prout

Stage Manager ….. Sandy Lambert

Assistant Stage Manager/Props ….. Tom Width

Light Board Operator ….. Brent Deekens

Set Crew ….. Peter Prout, Brent Deekens, Hailey Bean, PJ Llewellyn, Thomas Doersch, Paul Deiss

Lighting Crew ….. Brent Deekens

Photographer ….. Daryll Morgan

Wig Design ….. Alia Radabaugh

Time and Place:

A Small Town, not long ago

Run Time:

About 2 hours, with 1 fifteen-minute intermission

Performances:

July 12 – August 2, 2025

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8:00PM

Select Wednesdays at 2:30PM

Tickets:

Regular $44-49. Discounts for Seniors, Military & Veterans

Photographer: Daryll Morgan

The Spitfire Grill premiered off-Broadway at the Duke Theatre on 42^nd Street on September 7, 2001.

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Act One

A Ring Around the Moon ….. Percy

Hannah’s Harangue ….. Hannah

Somethin’s Cookin’ at the Spitfire Grill ….. Company

Hannah Fell Down ….. Effy

Hannah Had a Son ….. Shelby

When Hope Goes ….. Shelby

Ice and Snow ….. Caleb, Joe and Effy

Shelby’s Ad ….. Shelby

The Colors of Paradise ….. Percy and Shelby

Diggin’ Stone ….. Caleb

This Wide Woods ….. Joe and Percy

Forgotten Lullaby ….. Hannah

Shoot the Moon ….. Hannah and Company

Act Two

Opening, Act II ….. Shelby, Percy and Hannah

Come Alive Again ….. Hannah and Company

Foret for the Trees ….. Joe

Wild Bird ….. Shelby

Sunrise ….. Percy

Shine ….. Percy

Way Back Home ….. Hannah

Dear Mrs. Ferguson ….. Effy and Joe

The Last Letters ….. Shelby and Percy

Finale ….. Company