Pump Boys and Dinettes


Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical written by a performance group also called Pump Boys and Dinettes, which consists of John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. The members directed and starred in the Broadway production.

History

The musical was created by two friends who worked at The Cattleman restaurant in New York City, dramatizing their experiences there. It started as a two-man act and then expanded. As Jim Wann, the show's principal author and composer recalled in 2010,

Productions

The musical premiered on Broadway on February 4, 1982, at the Princess Theatre and closed on June 18, 1983, after 573 performances. The cast featured Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. It had premiered at the Chelsea West Side Arts Theatre on July 10, 1981, moving to the Colonnades Theatre in October 1981. Replacements through the show included Loudon Wainwright III and Tom Chapin, who both took over the role of "Jim".
The show played in London's West End at the Piccadilly Theatre from September 20, 1984, to June 8, 1985, and transferred to the Albery Theatre from June 11, 1985, to September 2, 1985. The production starred, amongst others, Paul Jones, Clodagh Rodgers, Joe Brown, Brian Protheroe, Carlene Carter and Kiki Dee.
The show played for many years in Chicago at the Apollo Theater on Lincoln Avenue.
A 1983 touring version of the show featured former pop star Nicolette Larson. Larson's performance in the show was well-received, and it began a brief foray into country music for her.
On July 16–19, 2014, the show was revived for five performances at New York City Center as part of the Encores! Off-Center program. The cast featured Hunter Foster, Mamie Parris, Randy Redd, Katie Thompson and Jordan Dean.
On July 22, 2018, the original cast performed two full-score concert versions of the show at Feinstein's/54 Below in Manhattan.
The musical tells the story of four men who work at a gas station and two waitresses at the Double Cupp Diner, located somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, North Carolina. The music is mostly from the country rock/pop music genres. They perform on guitars, piano, bass and kitchen utensils.
The original cast album was released by CBS Records in the U.S. Its recording of "The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine" reached number 67 on the Hot Country Songs charts.
In 2021, Porchlight Music Theatre premiered a new song written by Jim Wann for this Chicago production, "Surf Castin' Man." Porchlight's production was directed by Daryl Brooks, music directed by Robert Reddrick and choreographed by Rueben D. Echoles. "Surf Castin' Man" was performed by Frederick Harris with the cast that also included Rafe Bradford, Shantel Cribbs, Ian Paul Custer, Melanie Loren and Billy Rude.

Other media

Pump Boys and Dinettes on Television was a pilot episode for a series adaptation of the show featuring the Broadway cast and appearances by Ron Carey and Tanya Tucker. It aired on NBC on August 15, 1983, but a series was never ordered.

Plot

Act One

The story takes place on an unspecified "Highway 57" on the outskirts of Frog Level, a rural community somewhere in the southeastern United States, at two adjacent locations: the Pump Boys service station and general store co-owned by Jim and L.M., and the Double Cupp, a diner operated by sisters Prudie and Rhetta Cupp. Jim's Uncle Bob calls the gas station to inquire about when his Winnebago will be fixed, and Jim stalls him by saying it takes time and extra care to do the job right. Jim talks about the ladies that swing through the area, noting that his employee Jackson chases them, Eddie once lured a wealthy actress, but L.M., the station bookkeeper, draws the most attention, which L.M. doesn't even want.
At the Double Cupp, Rhetta advertises the diner's menu. Prudie talks about how the male-to-female ratio in the area plays in her favor, and that although Eddie comes close to her ideal, his being from the nearby "inbred" town of Smyrna is a deal-breaker, and her real soulmate is in the audience. Jim talks about how he forgot he had promised to take Rhetta to a minor league baseball game when he chose to go fishing instead. Jim recalls his late grandmother. Jim takes one of the catfish from his fishing trip to Rhetta to cook, but Rhetta is still jilted and tells him off, to which Jim tries to make good by offering her a silk artificial rose and to clean up his truck if she accepts another date at a nearby bar.

Act Two

After intermission, the Pump Boys advertise their gas station's services and goods. Jackson talks about what he does on the weekends, when he goes into town, where he has a crush on a cashier at Woolworth's. Jim and Jackson recall an exceptionally dry and troublesome summer the previous year, when anything that could go wrong did, which segues into a story about how L.M. met Dolly Parton backstage after a concert and had a brief fling before he cut off the affair due to extenuating circumstances.
At the Double Cupp, Rhetta and Prudie sing about wanting tips from their customers before reflecting on their childhood under an absent single mother, lamenting the emotional distance between each other, then decide to shut down the diner for a time and take a trip. The pump boys and Cupp sisters all head on a road trip to Florida in Bob's miraculously fixed Winnebago, where L.M. now relishes in the attention of the ogling "brown" onlookers. Bob calls the group, and Jim assures him that they will be returning soon. Upon returning, they close the diner and gas station.

Songs

Lyrics and music by Jim Wann
;Act I
  • Highway 57 — Company
  • Taking It Slow — Pump Boys
  • Serve Yourself — L.M.
  • Menu Song — Dinettes
  • The Best Man — Prudie Cupp
  • Fisherman's Prayer — Pump Boys
  • Caution: Men Cooking — Pump Boys
  • Mamaw — Jim
  • Be Good or Be Gone — Rhetta Cupp
  • Drinkin' Shoes — Company
;Act II
  • Pump Boys — Pump Boys
  • Mona — Jackson
  • T.N.D.P.W.A.M. — L.M.
  • Tips — Dinettes
  • Sister — Dinettes
  • Vacation — Company
  • No Holds Barred — Company
  • Farmer Tan — L.M. and Dinettes
  • Highway 57 — Company
  • Closing Time — Company