Almost one year to the date and I'm back in the basement. The literal basement beneath a Ramada Inn where Plymouth Playhouse is located, and the theatrical basement that is the setting for the Minnesota-grown musical comedy franchise known as
Church Basement Ladies. The first musical in what was to become a series premiered in 2005 at the Plymouth Playhouse, written by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuelhlke based on the book
Growing Up Lutheran by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, with music and lyrics by Drew Jansen. That was before my time as a theater blogger, and somehow I also missed out on the eight sequels, all penned by original cast member Greta Grosch, with Dennis Curley joining the songwriting team. Lucky for me, Rags to Rags Productions began what I hope is a full series rewatch last year, so I was able to jump in on the ground floor, or basement, as it were.
After seeing the original The Church Basement Ladies last year, I wrote "this musical comedy is very broad, very corny, very Minnesotan, and whole lot of fun.... and I hope to visit the basement again!" My hopes were realized; this year they're doing the second show in the series, aptly titled
A Second Helping. Because it is exactly that - a second helping of the humor, the heart, the bad puns, the physical comedy, and the Minnesota references.
You can see it now through August 23, but don't worry if you haven't seen the first one, you'll have no trouble jumping into the story and falling in love with these charmingly quirky (and familiar) characters.
