The Virginia Repertory Theatre closes the year with the Matt Conner musical The Silver Belles. This is a contemporary ensemble piece often comparable to TV’s The Golden Girls. The play centers around the passing of Oralene. She was the proverbial glue, and leader, of a group of Southern ladies whose Christmas tradition is staging a performance of new music for their town every year. With her death, comes the loss of the main creative force that made these annual theatrics come to life. Her friends and her widower husband flail, often comedically, in their efforts to match her talent and keep up that tradition. Unseen by the crew is Oralene’s ghost persistently prodding them to continue in her absence.
What boils up out of a mix of broad comedy, Southern sarcasm, and Opry-style Country music songs, is a sweet homage to the potency of a lost friend. I’d like to stray from revealing the highlights of the plot, so I’ll just say The Silver Belles takes the small town American Experience and heaps on the sweet tea and the bitter greens. There’s a lot of range to play with. I haven’t seen it yet (I’ve been out of town) but I’m looking forward to catching it before it closes on December 31st.
I did get a chance to call Susan Sanford, the Director, and get some behind the scenes input/insight:
Christian: Let’s just start at the beginning. So you’re directing, right? Could you tell us a little bit, your name and where you’re from and how you come to being in this position right now, directing this show?
Susan: I’m originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but I have lived all up and down the eastern seaboard. I also was in California for about four years. But I’ve actually been in Richmond, about 23 years on and off. I’m a professional actor, and I started directing a lot of the touring shows for Virginia Rep back when it was Theater Four. I don’t know if you’re aware of that history, but
Christian: Of course I remember Theatre Four! I used to be an actor. I acted for Theater Four way back when Richmond Theatre Company was around. I did a children’s theater tour. It was African folk tales. I played Anansie the spider. There was a Martin Luther King Jr. play as well. Dude, I’m not gonna remember. I guess it might have been I Have a Dream. Yeah, actually, I was an extra in that. But we’re going back to ancient history right now.
Susan: That’s kind of how it came about. [Artistic Director of Programming] Rick Hammerly asked me if I’d be interested in directing the play and I said sure. And so that’s kind of how it happened. Simple, haha.
Christian: So, in preparation for this conversation, I was reading the script for The Silver Belles. One of the first things I noticed is just how sincere it is. You know what I mean? There’s just so much cynicism everywhere. I’m not even going to pretend as if I don’t spend most of my time watching media that is inherently cynical. We get to a point, I think, where, if something doesn’t have a certain measure of cynicism, we reject it as not showing us what the world really is.
But really, there is joy. There is love. There’s true grief that is assuaged by friendship. People come together and do nice things all the time. We do not live in a complete hellscape – yet, anyway. There are themes in the play that build pathos and remembrance but it doesn’t forget the funny. It’s got jokes. All the reviews I read say, oh, it’s like Golden Girls. I was thinking more like Steel Magnolias because it hits the low notes too. When it is sad, it provides an immediate comfort in the way the Silver Belles rally around each other. It’s very, very Southern Fried. As the Director, what artistic thrust are you putting into this? Where is its heart for you?
Susan: A lot of people think that the heart of the play is Oralene, who is the woman who has passed away. She’s the flashpoint of the conversation and action in the play. In talking with Rick and then also the creators, they’re friends of Rick’s, the people who wrote Silver Belles up in DC. They found that in their production, it actually wound up being Oralene’s husband, Earl. He’s the one you get to know. It’s not necessarily the person who died. It’s a person that gets left behind that you really connect with. They’ve got to figure out how to move forward in their lives without that person. And so I think the heart of the play is these women trying to not only figure out how they’re going to move on without their friend, but also how they’re going to be able to help Earl move on. Holidays are always so hard for people who’ve lost people. They always say the first one without them is the hardest. Trying to help him realize that there are still ways to celebrate, here are still things to celebrate. Even though he’s suffered this huge loss. So I think that’s kind of what we’ve discovered. The heart of the show is is Earl.
Christian: So much of a play like this comes out in the interpretation, basically the acting and the blocking all these sort of things. It’s hard to imagine the musical numbers clearly because I don’t have the sheet music. Or even if I did, haha, I couldn’t read it. I’m sheet music illiterate haha. So could you describe some of that? Like, what are the motifs or just basically what’s the sense of the music?
Susan: It definitely has a country kind of feel to it. “Strike me Lord”, which is the song that Orleans sings in a flashback, is what I call the “I Want” song of the show. You know, it’s her baring her heart, wishing on a star kinda, and then it happens.
Christian: The Disney moment, yes.
Susan: Sure. It has a very strong country vibe. A lot of the songs have a very strong country feel to it because in the play Earl plays guitar, and they are in Tennessee. So there you know there are a lot of country motifs that go along with that. The music definitely reflects that. And then there are also a lot of, you know, Christmas carols that are incorporated into the songs which are very cleverly done. So that’s a really fun aspect as well that people will recognize portions of the song as well. Since you know, this is not a show like Sound of Music, where everyone knows the lyrics and silently sings along in their seats. There are familiar tunes but most are new compositions.
They are really sweet, and again have a lot of heart to them. There’s some beautiful harmonies and we have a live five piece band on stage with the actors. We are incredibly fortunate to be able to be working with live musicians. So I think that’s another thing that people are really going to enjoy as well.
Christian: Who’d you get to accompany you all on music?
Susan: A lot of them are regular theater pit musicians. You know, we have Leilani Fenick, who is our pianist and conductor. She’s, you know, bounces from show to show to show. She has done numerous musicals in the area. And then Marissa Remimi. She is our violinist. She’s been in several shows that I’ve been in. She is an amazing violinist. There are a lot of familiar faces.
Christian: What were some of the highlights of production?
Susan: I’m probably the newest to this friend group, and I’ve known most of them for over 20 years. They’ve all known each other for even longer than that. With the exception of the girl who’s playing Gloria – she’s a newcomer – and has fit seamlessly in with this group. So it’s been so nice to not have to build friendship on stage. It’s already there. I think that’s been one of the most joyous aspects of it is just getting to spend time with my friends and you know, when you have that joy, you can so easily fill the stage with it.
Christian: That also comes in as a theme in the play. My brain just went far afield for a little bit. I was just thinking about it and thinking about the friends that you make during your life. How many of them are going to be the ones that are there with you in the end? The ones that are so near and dear that they pretty much share the same brain, share the same heart. Once you’ve weeded out all of the single serving friends, the May – December friends, and you have your core group, as family could possibly be. It’s a fact of life, of aging. You’re going to have to say goodbye at some point. One by one. And everybody reacts to that loss of that one person, and then the next one -and the next. That one person in this case is Oralene. She’s the ‘glue’ in this work but I think every loss shines a new light on how that person fit in the group, and that reflection begets understanding of their true value. I’m trying to not make it sound like a downer because the play is actually quite uplifting. It’s funny, and again, I really want to hear the music. But that is something I picked up on. When you’re sitting in the theater watching a fun musical and it’s all kind of surface and happy, but then it has a deep undertone, a gravity to the situation.
Susan: There are definitely poignant moments, but it’s all grounded in that sense of friendship and joy leaning on each other. We’ve really mined both the comedy and the pathos of the story.
Christian: I think our readership at RVA Magazine is just very much the big cup of coffee and black hoodie, angsty art people. I really don’t really get the opportunity to recommend or even cover something that’s just “No, come sit down, enjoy, feel joy, be happy and you know, have songs that you want to have in your head later”. You know, go Christmas shopping later. It’s a mindset that our readership would benefit from spending time with. I’m sure you’re sure you’ve done all sorts of different plays and all sorts of different musicals you know, tragedies and comedies and dramas and all these other things. As actors and directors do, through their career. How does putting on a show that has this sense of friendliness and even optimism fit for you personally as an artist and as a director?
Susan: I have to say I you know, I’ve been acting and directing for more years than I would like to count. I’ve really gotten to a point where I love doing a show where I feel like the audience walks out and their load is lighter. That for two hours or so they were able to just forget their troubles and laugh, and dance in their seats, be moved and have a joyful experience. I’m not in any way disparaging other types of plays. For me, it’s also necessary, like you said, to leave your cynical hat at the door, and allow yourself to just bend your disbelief for a couple of hours and enjoy yourself. So if that’s something that you’re interested in, this is definitely the show to go to.
Christian: I’m happy for you. Were there any particular moments in the play that you really kind of sunk your teeth into or where you really felt like this was like a lynchpin moment for you to get your vision across on the stage? Was there anything in particular without giving anything away? Do you have a favorite moment?
Susan: Rather than a moment, what I really wanted to do is make sure that these characters were not caricatures. They are actually people that we recognize and people that we go, oh, yeah, I know a Berniece or Ruth Ann. That they have that nugget of truth in them so that we can also empathize with their journey. That was one of the things I wanted to do is make sure that it wasn’t just so fluffy that people couldn’t relate to any of the characters.
Christian: I generally don’t have much of an opportunity to do exactly what you were saying earlier, to just go and sit in a theater and enjoy myself. Just hum along to the songs and laugh at the pithy one liners and leave my troubles at the door. I really hope that Richmond does take the opportunity to do that because it’s so necessary, especially now in this crazy time. Thank you so much for you ear and your thoughts. I’ll see you at the Rep!
Get your tickets to The Silver Belles HERE
