"The Red Velvet Cake War" Now Showing--You Can Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

The Flowertown Players proved you can have your cake and eat it to as they served up full slices of sweet red velvet comedy Texas style to a hungry-for-more audience on their opening night presentation of The Red Velvet Cake War.

Trio Nicholas Hope, Jamie Wooten, and Jessie Jones, collectively known as JONES HOPE WOOTEN, wrote The Red Velvet Cake War. With a reputation of being three of the most popular and widely-produced playwrights in the United States, the threesome have built a large following of loyal fans and have been dubbed "America's Playwrights" with credits in classic television, hit movies, and Off Broadway comedy. They specialize in creating vivid strong roles for women as you will see in this woman dominated comedic parody.

Gaynelle Verdeen Bodine is distraught with anxiety and on the verge of a full blown meltdown. She has problems with her wayward husband and has taken things into her own hands by "accidentally" crashing her minivan through the bedroom wall of her husband's girlfriend's doublewide. As a result, her sanity is questioned by certain people in her hometown of Sweetgum. She is joined by two cousins with issues of their own. Peaches Verdeen Belrose, a saucy sort, is struggling to decide if it's time to have her long-absent trucker husband declared dead and Jimmie Wyvette, an uncultivated filly, is on the verge of fisticuffs with a snooty neighbor named Bitsy for the affections of Sweetgum's newest widower. On top of all this, the three of them have taken on the challenge of the family reunion and Gaynelle has wagered her house in a bet she can make a better red velvet cake than her fussing and fuming Aunt LaMerle. Things spin hilariously out of control as the wildly eccentric Verdeens gather for the event referred to as "a white trash jamboree" where a neighbor's pet devours everything edible, a one-eyed suitor shows up to declare his love, and a tornado strikes.

Director Sue Vinick said this about comedy, "From the outset, directors need to find actors who have a sense of the absurd...additionally, comedic actors must strive to be natural." I would have to say, "Job well done." Sue found the actors who possessed those necessary qualities. Under her direction and assisted by Larry Spinner, the play unfolded the way JONES HOPE WOOTEN would have desired with the characters and relationships fully developed. Everyone had a purpose and everything had a place. The sometimes frenzied scenes were all orchestrated without a noticeable glitch from the timely jokes to the constantly changing scenes and visual sight gags. The setting, Gaynelle's house, was well designed with accenting props and the costumes were fittingly fashioned for the plays characters.

The plays three main actors, Heather Hogan, Sarah Daniels, and Dianne Corban, provided the necessary ingredients for a winningly successful showing of this half baked Texas style dare I say redneck spoof that covers the full spectrum of what it is to be somewhat maladjusted. Blue-jeaned, plaid shirted Heather Hogan--whom I refer to as the face that launched a thousand expressions--sporting pony tails and a unibrow as the rough-and-tumble tomboy Jimmy Wyvette, whipped up the cake batter oozing with confectionery hilarity. Sarah Daniels, playing the functionally dysfunctional Gaynelle, adeptly stirred in the essential-to-the-plot figurative red dye and Dianne Corban, as the flirtatious Peaches with needs of the sexual kind, supplied the eye-popping frosting as she thickly ladled her delightfully charming self over the stage.

However, the threesome could not have pulled it off without the equal to the task supporting cast. As the cousins irrepressible and good natured almost ninety Uncle Aubrey Verdeen, Barry Gordon delivered on cue some of the plays more memorable tongue-in-cheek one liners with comedic artistry. Veteran actor Chad Estel garnered his share of chuckles with his rendering of the one-eyed Newt Blaylock. When he wasn't chasing the ladies around, he was crawling on the floor looking for his recently purchased under-sized eyeball. And there is Rhonda D. Kierpiec. Just one look at her and you knew she was the perfect choice for the holier than thou harpy, Aunt LaMerle.

Rounding out the cast, Joy Springfield provides some fireworks as the priss-pot Bitsy Hargis and Kerry Bowers plays the court appointed German accented psychologist Elsa Dowdall. With a mile of a smile, Jennifer Post doubles as the sassy and stylish hostess Cee Cee Windham of the show Hospitality House and Mama Doll Hargis and Fred Hutter doubling as Sheriff Grover Lout and Purvis Verdeen.

To coin a phrase from the play, "Don't paint pictures we can't scrub off the walls of our memory," The Red Velvet Cake War painted a picture that will be remembered within the walls of the James F. Dean Theatre for a long time. In many ways, it reminded me of skits from the once upon a time outlandish show called Hee Haw, only funnier. By the way, the winning red velvet cake had a fourth ingredient added to its mix, but you will have to sit through the whole crazy affair to find out what that is. However, you will laugh your bleeping *** off along the way to the arrival of that portentous moment.

"The Red Velvet Cake War" runs at 8 p.m. Jan. 25, 26 and 31 and Feb. 1 and 2. There are 3 p.m. performances Jan. 27 and Feb. 3. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, military and first-responders and $20 for students.

Purchase tickets