Reviews

The Living Arts

By Charles Calabrese

SCT’s Smoke on the Mountain

The Salem Community Theatre opened a highly entertaining production of the musical, Smoke on the Mountain, written by Connie Ray, based on a concept by Alan Bailey. The music consists of well-known American Protestant hymns and praise songs, except for the title song, composed specially for the show.

The musical is set in 1938, at the Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, Baptist Church, where the Sanders Family Singers have come to provide an evening of “special music.” But the Sanders provide more, sharing their own personal witness of faith—and vulnerability. The young pastor, the Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe, joins in the music and uses all his charm to calm a couple of church ladies upset by some of the unconventional aspects of the Sanders’ presentation.

The result is a warm and funny experience that puts the audience in the congregation, so they leave the theatre with smiles on their faces and a song in their hearts. Co-directors Cheryl Kekel and Mark Frost and musical director Gary Kekel, all of whom also perform in the show, are to be commended for finding actors up to the challenge of the score’s beautiful, complex harmonies and the requirement that each of them play at least one musical instrument.

The Rev. Len Derico, pastor of the First Christian Church of Columbiana, is convincing as the kind-hearted, welcoming Pastor Oglethorpe. Another area pastor, the Rev. Kari Lankford of Leetonia’s Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church, is hilarious as the disapproving church lady Miss Myrtle, with Carolyn Sanders offering an equally funny performance as Miss Maude.

The Sanders family is headed by Gary Kekel as Burl Sanders, a kindly patriarch who has brought his prodigal brother, Stanley, played by Mark Frost, back to the family business after Stanley’s detour through the North Carolina State Correctional System. Kekel’s unflappable demeanor contrasts perfectly with Frost’s character’s frustration and contained rage.

Cheryl Kekel is wonderful as Burl’s wife, Vera, with a performance highlighted by fall-down-funny bit involving a children’s meditation gone wrong.

Connie Baer is endearing as June Sanders, the only family member who doesn’t sing, but makes her contribution by playing various percussion instruments and interpreting songs in sign language for an all-hearing audience. Baer’s warmth and enthusiasm make up for the woefully underwritten part.

Amanda Frost and Joshua Lewis give strong performances as Denies and Dennis Sanders, respectively, a brother and sister who clearly enjoy their roles in the family act. They and the rest of the family get strong support from “cousins” Clementine on fiddle and Clem on banjo, enacted by Connie Frost Price and Andy Cowan.

Smoke on the Mountain will be presented again this Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. I give this show my highest recommendation for the whole family, with the caution that the script includes a single use of a vulgarity for solid biological waste.

I also recommend that you call ahead for reservations at (330) 332-9688, as seating is limited. There was a full house on opening night, and I expect no less for the other performances of this first-rate entertainment.

[Guest reviewer Charles Calabrese, a resident of Wintersville, Ohio, has been writing performing arts reviews for print and broadcast for more than 30 years.]

Kekel and Kompany's wonderful musical review featuring oscar nominated songs from the every decade since the oscars began played to a standing room only audience on Saturday February  9th. The talented cast  headed by musical director Gary Kekel and and his lovely wife Cheryl received a standing ovation from the thoroughly entertained crowd.   We look forward to more musical fund-raisers from these talented local performers.