Potluck

2013 · Playhouse on the Square, Jacksonville; Salem on 7th, Petersburg; Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield

In the kitchen of the fellowship hall at First Loosely-United Methodist, five church ladies have exactly one hour to throw together a potluck — and not just any potluck. There's a new minister in the pulpit, and as the formidable Mrs. Rice declares, it's "make or break it times, girls." One bite of dry rump roast and they could lose their new preacher and, as she sees it, "wipe Christianity off the face of the earth." With the Doxology drifting in from the sanctuary, the women bustle, bicker, and burst through a sticky exterior door, defending the sacred institution of home cooking against the encroaching evils of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Stouffer's Salisbury steaks, and the dreaded "catered meal."

Potluck is a two-act musical comedy — "Five ladies, one new minister, one hour to prepare one church potluck, and one catastrophe after another," as Ken Bradbury put it. Between a kitchen fire that empties Gloriana's crock-pot across the north wall of the church, a last-minute scramble for dessert, and the salvific arrival of "Pink Stuff," the show is, in Bradbury's words, "just a happy show." He knew he had a crowd-pleaser on opening night when the first act ran seven minutes long: "You can't stop an audience from laughing."

The show debuted at Jacksonville's Playhouse on the Square in the summer of 2013 and played to sold-out houses — producer Rich McCoy recalled having to turn folks away and adding an extra performance that sold out in a day. That November it returned to the area for engagements at Petersburg's new Salem on 7th Theatre (a converted Ace Hardware turned art-deco house) and Springfield's Hoogland Center for the Arts, several of which were paired with the option of dinner with the show.

Musical Numbers

Act I

Doxology — Wilma, Conchitta, Mrs. Rice, Kenzi
Whatever Happened to the Potluck? — The Cast
Spicy Spiritus — Conchitta and Kenzi
Most Blessed of Cheeses — Mrs. Rice, Gloriana, Wilma
I'm in Love With a Man in a Big Yellow Truck — Kenzi
Back in the Day — Gloriana, Wilma, Kenzi, Conchitta
Are You Washed? — The Cast

Act II

The Pink Stuff Blues — Mrs. Rice & The Cast
Dancing with Grandma — Kenzi
Maybe We'd be More Alike — Wilma and Gloriana
The Food Rag — Wilma, Mrs. Rice, Gloriana
The Miracle — Conchitta & The Cast
Whatever Happened to the Potluck? (Reprise) — The Cast

Cast

Mrs. Rice, matron of the church — Sylvia Burke
Kenzi — Carrie Carls
Wilma — Shelly Flickinger
Gloriana — Mary Beth Maloney
Conchitta — Leah President

Production Notes

Potluck was written and directed by Ken Bradbury, who also accompanied the two-act musical on piano. The original Jacksonville production at the Playhouse on the Square was sponsored by The Source and ran for two weekends in August 2013 to standing-room-only crowds. A return tour followed in November: Petersburg's Salem on 7th Theatre (November 15–17) and Springfield's Hoogland Center for the Arts (November 22–24), with dinner-and-a-show options on select dates.

Bradbury called his ensemble "five slightly wacky but totally talented actresses": Carrie Carls of Beardstown, Leah President of Rushville, Sylvia Burke of Franklin, Shelly Flickinger of Petersburg, and Mary Beth Maloney of Springfield. The program playfully paired each cast member's bio with one of her character's recipes — from Mrs. Rice's cornballs and Wilma's rump roast to the indispensable Methodist Pink Stuff.