Summer Musical About Brokenness and Healing

The Bethel Department of Theatre Arts is halfway through the performances of The Spitfire Grill, this year’s summer production. The 10-player cast features Bethel students, faculty, alumni, as well as members of the surrounding community.

According to the Samuel French catalogue of plays, "A feisty parolee follows her dreams, based on a page from an old travel book, to a small town in Wisconsin and finds a place working at Hannah's Spitfire Grill. It is for sale but there are no takers until newcomer Percy suggests a raffle. Soon mail is arriving and things are definitely cooking at the Spitfire Grill."

The theme of the show comes from the song, "There is a balm in Gilead (the town's name) to make the wounded whole." The people in Gilead are broken, but by play's end have found healing.

The New York Times describes the musical as, "A soul satisfying…work of theatrical resourcefulness. A compelling story that flows with grace and carries the rush of anticipation. The story moves, the characters have many dimensions and their transformation is plausible and moving. The musical is freeing. It is penetrated by honesty and it glows."

The music is by James Valcq and the lyrics are by Fred Alley. Both men wrote the book, which is based on the film by Lee David Ztotloff.

The final four performances begin July 24. For more information on tickets and show times, visit the website.