Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507250024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"Glory Bound" - a new musical by Tom Ziegler, with music and lyrics by Jack Herrick - previewed under the most difficult conditions Thursday night at Theatre at Lime Kiln. But with rain beating down and about 200 people raising the humidity under the tent, with a minimal set and zero room in which to operate, the cast and crew delivered the improbable: a hit.
See this play. It premieres tonight and runs through Aug. 12, with performances Tuesday through Saturday evenings.
It's not just that it's solid work from Ziegler, who earlier demonstrated a fine ear for dialogue and a terrific sense of humor in "Grace and Glorie." Herrick's music is strong and his lyrics very funny (comically tortured, at times), Robert Graham Small's direction is skillful and the cast ( very astutely selected) is almost uniformly excellent.
And it just didn't seem possible.
After all, this plays bills itself as a "light-hearted musical look at racism in a small Southern town." It's not a subject that inspires belly laughs, let's face it.
But through painstaking characterizations and avoidance of stereotypes (for the most part), Ziegler makes musical comedy look like the perfect genre for the subject. It's not the first time that a talented artist has proven that a sense of humor allows people to relax and think about a problem - without feeling threatened by the experience.
The play is set in a small Virginia town called New Jordan. A bolt of lightning has toppled the steeple of the black Brotherhood Church. Frances McCormick (the amazing Wendy White) persuades her pastor husband (Beach Vickers) that this is an opportunity to bridge the gap between the races by helping the black church rebuild its steeple.
Cloreen (Hilda Willis) has as much work on her hands persuading Brotherhood's proud, stubborn Pastor Justice (Spruce Henry) to accept the help, but the women prevail.
White and Willis are the powerful center of the most successful songs in the play, including the gospel-influenced "Glory Bound" and "Carry It On".
The trouble starts when Buddy Floyd (Ben Hulan), the white son of the local barber, and Pastor Justice's daughter Molly (Shirley Wiley), make a small adjustment to the blueprint for the new steeple. It's not the kind of change New Jordan's white citizens can tolerate.
It seems unfair to single out a good performance in a play that has so many, but Hulan is a rare find. He is completely natural on stage and far ahead of his years in comic agility. The gang at the barber shop is almost as funny - especially Barry Mines as Lester Horn and Tom Conway as Cecil Ledlow.
The sum of all these parts is one fine night of theater under the stars - even when rain drives it under a tent.
"GLORY BOUND": A musical by Tom Ziegler, playing through Aug. 12 at Theatre at Lime Kiln. Performances Tuesday through Saturday evenings. Tickets $10 and $12 with discounts for children, students and senior citizens. (540) 463-3074.
by CNB