BCT's 'Dearly Beloved' a hilarious look at nuptials By ANNETTE ESTERHELD Staff Writer
In many weddings, it's not what the bride wants for her wedding, but what the mother of the bride demands and Frankie Futrelle Dubberly, mother to Tina Jo, wants her daughter's wedding to be memorable. It is, but not the way Frankie intended when she set out to pull off an elegant, stylish wedding in the style of "Gone with the Wind" including hooped skirts on flowing dresses.
"Dearly Beloved," Bowie Community Theatre's current production, tells the story of what happened on Tina Jo's wedding day. The story is set in Fayro, Texas, and all the action happens in and around the fellowship hall at The Tabernacle of the Lamb Church, where the wedding and reception are scheduled.
Frankie's daughter is marrying Parker Price, son of Pasty Price, a real mother of the groom from you-know-where, who is set against her son's marriage because she thinks her darling boy is too good for the likes of Tina Jo and her family that Price, the local high society matron, considers just a step away from white trash.
Frankie has almost made herself sick with wedding preparations and has turned over the reception planning to her sister Twink. Imagine Frankie's surprise when she enters the fellowship hall and sees the tables covered with brightly colored Tupperware containers. In trying to save her sister money, Twink sent out a call to the community to bring their favorite dishes for a potluck dinner turning the elegant reception into what Frankie calls a "citywide charitable event." It doesn't help that Twink has also gotten the local butcher, Clovis Sanford's House of Meat, to sponsor the event and donate pigs to be barbecued and everyone who brings in a wedding napkin will get 20 percent off their next meat purchase.
Then big sister Honey Raye Futrelle shows up at the wedding wearing gold lame. It seems Honey Raye and her sisters Frankie and Twink have some unresolved issues that date back years earlier when Honey Raye's first marriage to an evangelist broke up the sister's singing trio and ruined their moment in the spotlight. Honey Raye, by now married many times, is looking for her lifelong love while denying that she's in the throes of menopause with hot flashes.
There are many other family subthemes in the mix that add to the hilarity. Director Joe Del Balzo said in program notes that the Futrelles are "determined to stick together through a difficult wedding, where things get worse by the minute."
That's what families do, said Del Balzo.
"They say you can pick your friends, but you're stuck with your family, and that's certainly true of the beset and besieged Futrelles sisters and kin. They are happily and hilariously stuck with each other," he said.
Even when news reaches everyone that the minister scheduled for the wedding can't arrive and the substitute is a UPS employee and seminary student named Justin, who Tina Jo's twin sister Gina Jo is secretly in love with, the wedding must go on.
But wait there's another problem, while the pigs are cooking and the sisters arguing, the bride and groom have disappeared.
Frankie just wants to get through the day while Twink wants the wedding to go on because the local fortune teller told her that her boyfriend of over 15 years will marry her if he witnesses a wedding and Honey Raye wants to right some past grievances.
"Dearly Beloved" is a very, very funny play and Del Balzo has assembled a fine cast of actors who can mostly carry off the Southern accents while delivering some of the funniest lines that kept the audience laughing. All the actors are marvelous.
Debbie Samek as Frankie holds the cast together. She's great in the role whether she's conversing with her dead mother or dealing with her sisters. Barbara Webber is Twink and her efforts to get her boyfriend Wiley Hicks to the wedding add to the hilarity of her character. Every woman of a certain age can identify with Honey Raye as she deals with what she denies are hot flashes and fans herself with the bright orange lid of a Tupperware container. Sharon Zelefsky, who plays Honey Raye, is a hoot in the role.
Mike Dunlop as Dub Dubberly, father of the bride, turns in a solid performance and the scene with the local lawman John Curtis Buntner, who reminds you of Mayberry's Barney Fife, is hilarious. Also hilarious are the scenes between Robin Samek as Gina Jo and her love-to-be Justin, played by Pat Reynolds. One of the biggest scene-stealers is veteran Joanne Bauer's performance as Geneva Musgrave, the town florist and wedding coordinator. She was awesome in her opening scene that got the audience laughing and set the scene for the whole play.
One could go on and on and tell many more funny bits from this hilarious play written by comedic playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. "Dearly Beloved" is one of a trilogy of plays about the Futrelles family of Texas.
You won't want to miss this BCT production of "Dearly Beloved."
