The Tales Of Mikey Wiseman

Church Basement Ladies A Hoot by Di Saggau

Audiences are howling about the antics of the Church Basement Ladies, a musical comedy featuring four distinct characters and their relationships as they organize the food and solve the problems of East Cornucopia Lutheran, a rural Minnesota church in 1964. It's showing at The Off Broadway Palm Theatre.

As the show opens, we meet Pastor Gunderson, played to perfection by Mikey Wiseman. He's newly married to a woman half his age, whose maiden name was Andersen. The ladies would like her better if her name was Anderson.

A big pot of lutefisk is cooking on the stove for a church dinner that quickly grows to 200. I'm glad it was make believe because the smell of lutefisk would have driven me right out the door. Let's just say it's an acquired taste that I never acquired.

The four ladies are the pillars of the church, preparing food for weddings, funerals, and fundraisers. Vivian (Kay Francis) calls it "her kitchen". She says to Karin (Keara Trummel), "Some day you'll run this kitchen. Until that day comes, I wash, you dry." She's a bit on the crusty side and conflicts often with Signe (Jessica Taige), Karin's college-age daughter. Vivian doesn't like change, especially the changes in her church. Guitars in the sanctuary heaven forbid. Mavis (Beth Brandel), is a fun loving gal who is going through a crisis called hot flashes. At one point, she actually crawls into the freezer. She's the clown of the cast and is often talking with a knife in her hand, waving it wildly and scaring the poor pastor to death.

The songs are fun too. The Pale Food Polka describes the monochromatic food they prepare, with lots of butter. Song For Willie features Pastor Gunderson preparing a eulogy for Willie, the church janitor, who died. I loved that one. Dead Spread finds the ladies describing the food they prepare for a funeral. The clever This Is Most Certainly True has Signe and Karin singing about the differences and a few similarities between Catholics and Lutherans. The audience loved it.

Church Basement Ladies is about small-town Minnesota gals. Some have never even been to the "cities". Who knows what danger lurks in Minneapolis and St. Paul? There's a song about that too.

This is a show that everyone can relate to in one way or another. The cast is great.

They have a lot of fun and it's contagious. The show runs through March 29 (** As an editorial note, it has been extended through April 11th **). Tickets can be reserved by calling 278-4422, by visiting www.BroadwayPalm.com, or by stopping by the box office at 1380 Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers.

*Source: Di Saggau, The River Weekly News, Feb. 13, 2009, Page 18