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Fruitcakes Review

Review: Theatre Arlington's 'Fruitcakes'

Getting fruitcake for the holidays is probably not at the top of your child's Wii-filled wish list. But if you can get them away from their video screens for just one night, you and your family won't be disappointed in Theatre Arlington's sweet holiday comedy, Fruitcakes.

Set in the small Southern town of McCord's Ferry, Fruitcakes introduces us to an array of quirky, nutty characters preparing for their traditional holiday tasks including two sisters, Miss Sara (Vandi Clark) and Miss Alice (Shirley Orr), who bake a gazillion Jack Daniels-laced fruitcakes for all the townsfolk, a sheriff named Beebo (Bradford Hutson) who delights in building the biggest, baddest holiday light display. the sheriff's wife, Betty Jane (Melissa Kendall) who desperately tries to salvage the Christmas pagaent plagued by the chicken pox; and Skeeter (Tyler Cochran), a fisherman who scares his catch with Shakespeare.

The heart of the story, however, revolves around general store owner Mack Morgan (Burl Proctor) who befriends runaway teen, Jamie (Carson Ingle). Jamie hides out in Mack's barn after stealing one of the sisters’ hard-as-a-brick fruitcakes. The relationship between Mack and Jamie is at times funny and sad as each of them struggles with past familial hurts and disappointments. 

While the outcome is expected, the play has moments of comfort and joy and is a  great way to spend time with your family this holiday season.

The good: Proctor gives a moving and heartfelt performance as Mack, the gentle and wise store owner. Other standouts are the dueling sisters played with gusto and glee by Clark and Orr. The lighting and set design were also top notch. Children will love "The Grand Illumination" scene and will enjoy seeing the enthusiastic youth cast members. Teens will relate to Jamie, the runaway who is having problems communicating with his father (sound familiar in your household?).

The bad: Parts of the story are dated and may go over the heads of younger audience members. The script has some holes in it and some of the performances are uneven.

Good to know: The length of the play (about 2 hours) and the subject matter may not keep the attention of children younger than 8.  It's chilly inside the theater so bring sweaters and blankets for little ones, and choose seats at end of the aisles for quick potty breaks. Last weekend's performances were sold out (even on a Cowboys game night!) so get your tickets early for the final weekend.

PHOTO:  Carson Ingle, center, plays Jamie, the fruitcake thief in 'Fruitcakes.' Also starring are Betty Jane Dantzler (Melissa Kendall), Mack Morgan (Burl Proctor) and Beebo Dantzler (Bradford Hutson). THEATRE ARLINGTON  Photo by Eric Younkin

IF YOU GO

Fruitcakes

Run time: 2 hours with 15-minute intermission

Where:Theatre Arlington, 305 W. Main St., Arlington

When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 18; 8 p.m., Friday, December 19; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday, December 20; 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., Sunday, December 21.

Cost: $10-15

Food: Drinks and snacks (everything's $1) are available for purchase in the lobby so have cash on hand.

Online: www.theatrearlington.org

http://www.mom2momdfw.com/content/review-theatre-arlingtons-fruitcakes



Sunday, Dec. 07, 2008

'Fruitcakes’ has lots of nuts and plenty of corn

Theatre Arlington's latest may be the warmest and funniest greeting you receive this winter.

By PUNCH SHAW

Special to DFW.com

 

Carson Ingle, center, plays Jamie, the fruitcake thief in Fruitcakes. Also starring are Betty Jane Dantzler (Melissa Kendall), Mack Morgan (Burl Proctor) and Beebo Dantzler (Bradford Hutson). THEATRE ARLINGTON

THEATRE ARLINGTON

Carson Ingle, center, plays Jamie, the fruitcake thief in Fruitcakes. Also starring are Betty Jane Dantzler (Melissa Kendall), Mack Morgan (Burl Proctor) and Beebo Dantzler (Bradford Hutson). THEATRE ARLINGTON  Photo by Eric Younkin

ARLINGTON — The homemade Christmas card Theatre Arlington has made for us is a bit ragged around the edges, seems to have come from another era and carries a cliched sentiment.

But Fruitcakes, the theater’s offering for the season, may well be the warmest — and funniest — greeting you receive this winter.

This comedy with candied fruits and assorted nuts (emphasis on the latter), takes us to McCord’s Ferry, a Southern town so wholesome it makes Mayberry look like Detroit. The public order is deeply disturbed just before Christmas, however, by a runaway teen (Carson Ingle) who filches one of the bricklike fruitcakes that are made every year, despite popular demand, by bickering sisters Alice (Shirley Orr) and Sarah (Vandi Clark).

The battle to reclaim the town’s calm from the clutches of chaos is complicated by the preparations for a children’s Christmas pageant ravaged by a chickenpox epidemic (yes, the story is that dated) and difficulties with keeping the inharmonious sisters’ fruitcake operation working.

The ringmaster for this cornpone circus is Mack Morgan (ably acted by Burl Proctor), who runs a sort of general store and repair shop that is a crossroads for all of the town’s eccentrics. These splashes of local color include Skeeter (Tyler Cochran), who uses poetry to help him with his angling: He has found that reciting T.S. Eliot usually causes fish to die of boredom and float to the surface.

But what happens in Fruitcakes is of little consequence. One of the challenges in enjoying this sweet, family show is pretending that you don’t see the ending coming within seconds of sitting down.

The characters are all that matter here, and there are some good ones. Bradford Hutson wears his badge well as Beebo Dantzler, a country lawman who is just a bullet or two more responsible than Barney Fife. Orr and Clark, as the warring siblings united only by a fruitcake recipe, play off each other well.

The presentation also benefits from well-paced direction from BJ Cleveland, a fine lighting design by Ana F. Pettit and Jack Hardaway’s nicely appointed sets.

So there are plenty of shortcomings in the script, and the overall quality of the acting is, with just a few exceptions, what should be expected with a completely amateur cast.

But the whole silly business so unabashedly embraces its Leave It To Beaver-like corniness that you can’t help but forgive these flaws and enjoy the cinnamon-dusted taste of its heartfelt Christmas cheer.

Fruitcakes
Through Dec. 21
Theatre Arlington, 305 W. Main St., Arlington
7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 5:30 p.m. Sundays
$10-$15
817-275-7661; www.theatrearlington.org
Runtime: 2 hours, with one 15-minute intermission
Be advised: Family friendly.
Best reason to go: The humor and earnestness of the production.
 

  Daytime box office is located at 316 W Main St, across the street from Theatre Arlington, in downtown Arlington

 

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