New show opening at Sixth Street
Carol Roberts (left), as Karin, shares a scene with “Church Basement Ladies” costar Sara McEheny as Signe. The March production opens tonight at the Sixth Street Melodrama.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — It’s opening night for The Sixth Street Melodrama and Theatre’s March Production: “Church Basement Ladies.”
Directed by 20-year Sixth Street veteran Cherri Bartle, and music by Joy Persoon, the story finds its humor in the over the top, but delightful reality surrounding a group of Lutheran women who work in the basement of their Minnesota church as they go about their daily lives, which are heavily influenced by Nordic culture, including a scene where they prepare a massive, traditional Lutefisk (Nordic) feast.
It’s a story of the changing of a generational guard, including interactions between a mother and daughter, a church lady who isn’t ready to relinquish her kitchen authority, and another church lady who is “finding her own tropical island” during her transition through menopause.
The production is one that Bartle has wanted to do for a while, but waited until her close friend, Persoon had retired fully from teaching, so they could do it together.
“Joy and I wanted to do something musical and funny that also had a great message,” Bartle said. “‘Church Basement Ladies’ seemed just right. We knew that it would take a lot of time and work, but would be so worthwhile. The play takes place over a three-year period in the middle of the ’60s when life and ideals were changing.”
The hilarious play is based off the book “Growing Up Lutheran” by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson and was turned into an off-Broadway production by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke, and music and lyrics by Drew Jansen.
And while the play can poke fun at times of some of the nuances surrounding the “ladies” in the story, the accuracy is almost undeniable.
“Anyone who has spent time working in a church kitchen will recognize these four women,” Bartle said. “They care about their church and the people in it, but they also care for and take care of each other. The music is fabulous. Lots of songs with real meaning and some interesting situations too. As a pastor’s wife, I have known these women not only in the kitchen but working with love and devotion in all areas of their church.”
“Church Basement Ladies” opens at 7 tonight, March 6 and will feature shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m., and then again on Sundays at 2 p.m. from now until March 22.
For more information, please call The Sixth Street Melodrama and Theatre at 208-752-8871 or visit www.sixthstreetmelodrama.com.