We had a good day today. It was our daughter-in-law's birthday, so we took her to Crossville, about an hour west of here, and went to a play. It started at 11:00 am, so after that we went out to Cumberland Mountain State Park and had a buffet lunch at the lodge. They have great southern cooking.

The play was a two act comedy with music, which is different from a musical comedy. The name was "Smoke on the Mountain" and it is set in a country church in North Carolina in 1938. Everybody in it was a little bit nuts. The preacher was somewhat insecure, and attendence was down, so he brought in a crazy family of gospel musicians. There was a lot of music, a bit of preaching, and a constant stream of sight gags. As usual, the Cumberland County Playhouse managed to pull together a talented cast. The talent included six people who played various instruments and also were blessed with a flare for comedy. Most of the cast played three or more of the instruments on stage. They included a violin, banjo, mandolin, autoharp, piano, guitar, and a big base fiddle. There were also rythme band instruments such as tambareens. (Being a non-musician, you can't expect me to spell them all correctly.) There was nobody in the orchestra pit, because all of the music was right there on stage.

An actress, who is a grandmother, played the part of a single girl about 20 years old and she was the comedy hit of the play. She stole scene after scene, often without saying a word or singing a note. Her name is Patty Payne, and she is in the same league as Lucille Ball and Carol Burnette. I laughed my head off. It started out funny and just got funnier and funnier all the way through to the final curtain.

I think we are going back to the Playhouse next month to see "42nd Street."

I reported here about "Cats" last month. When we go to the Cumberland County Playhouse, I always come away thinking that I just saved myself a trip to New York.
Howard