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Bursting into song — appropriately

May 4th, 2007

by Ruth Milne

Some of you may recall my review of Dreamgirls, and how my dislike for that film was due in large part to the fact that it was a musical and people kept singing at inappropriate and unrealistic moments.

Last night I watched Smoke on the Mountain, Black Hills Community Theatre’s new musical comedy. I wrote the official review here, but I wanted to address this aspect separately. This is a play in which the format of a musical works, adding to a scene instead of detracting from it — making it more realistic rather than less.

Smoke on the Mountain takes place in real time, with the stage set up like the front of a church, the audience becoming the congregation at a church singalong. The characters onstage preach at and sing to the audience.

But it’s not as bad as it sounds. The “sermons” are hilarious and the music is peppy.

The actors play a family band, and they perform bluegrass gospel songs at appropriate moments during the service. They never break character just to belt out some “Look at me I want a Tooooooony” show tune. People sing only when they would be reasonably expected to sing.

I can dig that.

Also, the music is fun hayseed harmony banjo stuff. Highly recommended.