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| Cowgirls | Review |
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0 blues for this cowgirls' act
By MICHAEL ECK, Special to the Times Union
First published: Thursday, July 17, 2003
ALBANY -- Country music has made its way to the stage
at Capital Repertory Theatre once again. In past seasons
Cap Rep has had success with "Always,...Patsy Cline"
and "Woody Guthrie's American Song." Its production
of "The Grapes of Wrath" also featured live
music performed by actors.
Now the downtown venue moves fully into the arena of "guitar
theater" with an entertaining, star-studded production
of Betsy Howie and Mary Murfitt's "Cowgirls."
Star-studded, mind you, by the standards of the form.
Virtually all of the cast members, including composer
Murfitt, have appeared in other productions of the play,
and most have resumes that boast turns in other "hillbilly
Mafia" warhorses like "Smoke on the Mountain,"
"Pump Boys and Dinettes" and "Radio Gals."
Mimi Bessette and Rhonda Coullet, in fact, just finished
a run of "Guitar Girls" together in Florida
before heading north for "Cowgirls." The plot
of the play is simple. Kansas gal Jo Carlson wants to
save her honky tonk, Hiram Hall, from foreclosure, so
she hires the Cowgirl Trio in hopes of drawing a big crowd
to the failing joint. Unwittingly, however, Carlson has
booked the Coghill Trio, a classical group of a reunion
tour that's in even more trouble than Hiram Hall. The
bulk of the show is built on the longhairs learning to
play the highhairs' music -- "the higher the hair,
the closer to god," one of the trio realizes in a
moment of comic lucidity.
Murfitt's tunes tell the story as much as Howie's book,
and "From Chopin to Country," "Songs My
Mama Sang" and "Honky Tonk Girl" act as
stepping stones for the action -- which culminates, not
surprisingly, in a concert scene complete with fringed
outfits and cornpone songs.
The cast, directed by fellow veteran Eleanor Reissa, is
spot on, but they're also full of energy. No one plays
their part on cruise control, and Murfitt in particular
brings many subtle shades to the disgruntled classicist
Mary Lou. Music director Mary Ehlinger as pregnant pianist
Rita, and Julie Rowe as banjo-picking barmaid Mickey,
garner the most laughs. Ehlinger's vocal buffoonery in
"Every Saturday Night" was one of Wednesday's
opening highlights. And Berne resident Coullet is inspiring
as the complex Jo, whose reasons for keeping Hiram Hall
alive have more to do with dashed hopes and dreams than
with dollar bills. Coullet was so amped up at Wednesday's
closing that she literally popped out of her snazzy white
corset.
Vocally, Bessette, who was impressive at Cap Rep in "American
Song" is the cast's strong suit, and she makes beautiful
work of "Don't Look Down" and "Jesse's
Lullaby."
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COWGIRLS
An
American Family
