In a small, tight-knit town in Wisconsin, a magnetic young woman appears and helps breathe new life into a business that’s a cornerstone of the community. That’s the basic plot of The Spitfire Grill, a spirited bluegrass musical running in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin through September 1st. But in a particularly joyous moment of life imitating art, it’s also an apt description for the circumstances surrounding this homecoming production for St. Croix Festival Theatre.
Last Thursday, The Spitfire Grill opened in St. Croix Falls’ Historic Auditorium. If you’re not familiar with the town, which is 55 miles from Minneapolis (where I drove from), you’ll know you’ve arrived at the theater after you roll through the downtown’s main drag and come upon a majestic facade with the word “Auditorium” emblazoned on the front, across the street from the city’s namesake falls. But until recently, this 107-year-old landmark was far from majestic. In 2015, it was in such a state of disrepair that Festival Theatre had to vacate and move to a separate location after their production of A Christmas Carol closed that December.
Almost nine years later, the building previously called the Civic Auditorium has been brought back to life, both by the remarkable renovations that were completed in July and by the infectious energy of this ambitious theater company that is not only a gem in its hometown, but that should be on the radar of anyone who loves theater in the Twin Cities. Or really anyone who is searching for a memorable destination for a weekend road trip.
Now, about that young woman I mentioned up top. One of the aspects that makes Festival Theatre particularly ambitious is that they invite out-of-town artists into their fold, with residents hosting them during their stay. The star of The Spitfire Grill is one such newcomer: Beth Siegling, from North Carolina, who throws herself into the role of Percy Talbott with abandon and whose ability to unleash a crystal-clear cascade of sound from the lip of the stage is worth the price of admission alone. Yes, this is a bluegrass-flavored musical, in the vein of Bright Star, but Siegling also brings Lea Michele-style belting to the mix.
Her character Percy starts the show in prison, for a crime that won’t be revealed until the second act, but within the opening number she’s released and makes her way to Gilead, Wisconsin. As Sheriff Joe Sutter (played by the charismatic Carter Hoffer) describes it, Gilead is “a place for leaving, not for coming to.” So how did Percy end up there? She came across a photo of their idyllic fall foliage in a travel book, and that convinced her it was a place to start fresh.
While she’s able to make it to the town she’s been dreaming of while behind bars, it’s winter when she arrives. Her first days there have a similar flavor: dumb luck paired with a grain of salt. Sheriff Sutter gets her a job and lodging at a local cafe called the Spitfire Grill, but it’s run by Hannah Ferguson (Elizabeth Streiff), an aging widow who’s quick to lay down the law. Percy is soon tasked with running the place after Hannah trips and breaks her leg; except she doesn’t know how to cook. Thankfully, a friendly young woman named Shelby (Lindsey Fry) swoops in to help. The downside there? Caleb (Isaac Bont), Shelby’s overbearing husband and Hannah’s nephew, isn’t a fan of his wife serving anyone other than him, especially not in the company of an ex-con.
It’s clear Gilead’s small-town problems have been simmering for years, but Percy’s arrival turns up the heat and things begin to boil over once she makes a new suggestion: since Hannah has been trying unsuccessfully to sell the grill for years, what if they held a raffle instead? They could put out an ad: send in $100 and an essay about why you want to own this “piece of heaven,” and they’ll pick a new owner for the grill.
A quaint town, a mysterious newcomer, a contest — The Spitfire Grill has all the plot elements of a classic American musical, and director Mark Rosenwinkel presents it as such, which leads to a first act full of highlights that sends the audience buzzing into intermission.
Streiff keeps a subtle twinkle in her eye throughout, which means her Hannah can always sneak a laugh from the audience while steering clear of a crotchety cliche. The townsfolk trifecta of Hoffer as the sheriff, Bont as Caleb and Jennifer Stone as town gossip Effy make Gilead feel full and fleshed out, despite the small seven-person cast. And while the sheriff ends up falling for Percy, it’s the outsider’s budding relationship with Shelby that provides the emotional and musical anchor of this production. Their duet “The Colors of Paradise” is far and away the standout of composer James Valcq and lyricist Fred Alley’s songs — or it may be that Siegling and Fry’s gorgeous rendition takes a good song and makes it great.
Speaking of the vocal chops in this cast, part of the Historic Auditorium’s makeover is a state-of-the-art sound system which made simply listening to this musical a real treat. The sound design they’ve got here in St. Croix Falls is better than many theaters, big and small, in the Twin Cities. That also helped us audience members fully appreciate the compact but effective four-piece band, which includes music director Karl Wicklund on guitar, Julie Roadfeldt on piano, Anika Wicklund on synth, and Marc Harroo on violin.
Okay, okay, so you’re probably wondering, why was Percy in prison? I won’t reveal that here, except to say that the weight of the crime, including the incidents that led to it and the specific details of the act itself, hit this musical like a wrecking ball in the second act. When the show begins with a slapstick-tinged song about Percy being a dunce in the kitchen (she reads the ingredient “four large fresh eggs, beat” and proceeds to hit a carton of eggs with a rolling pin), it’s impossible to realistically transition to a dramatic conclusion so deadly serious. And even if the few hints they drop are enough to ease you in when the big reveals occur, Valcq and Alley, who co-wrote the show’s book based on a 1996 movie of the same name, wrap everything up too quickly and too easily.
Yet, the inherent faults in The Spitfire Grill are not the faults of St. Croix Festival Theatre, a group of actors, musicians and crew members who are bucking the downward trend of small theaters around this country. Instead of floundering in the face of intimidating obstacles — an auditorium in shambles, a post-pandemic world where audiences haven’t rebounded, the continuous need to make the case to people to turn off Netflix and go to the theater — they rose to the occasion and have themselves a musical worthy of a grand reopening. And, if you’re like me and live in the Twin Cities, a musical certainly worth a weekend trip.
The Spitfire Grill
St. Croix Festival Theatre
Historic Auditorium
210 N Washington St.
St. Croix Falls, WI 54024
August 8 – September 1, 2024
Buy tickets here
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