![\"A](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Smoke-1-1.jpg\")
Finally, they arrive, apologizing all over the place. Seems their van overturned in a ditch next to the local pickle factory (source of more than a few jokes) and they had to wait for help.<\/p>\n
Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre brings back the seventh edition of one of their most successful shows ever \u2013 Connie Ray\u2019s toe-tapping, hand-clapping bluegrass\/gospel hootenanny called \u201cSmoke on the Mountain\u201d \u2014 for a run through Nov. 19, directed by Kerry Meads.<\/p>\n
Cast your mind back to 1938, when life was a lot more black and white than it is these days. Baptists didn\u2019t dance (I hear they still don\u2019t), women wore seriously ugly housedresses and didn\u2019t work outside the home (though Rosie the Riveter wasn\u2019t far off), and most activities that \u201cnice\u201d Christian families engaged in were, well, family oriented.<\/p>\n
Apparently, Baptists also didn\u2019t make as much noise as this group does.<\/p>\n
The poor pastor tries to keep the Sanders gang under control, but there\u2019s no hope; with four singers and a band consisting of bass, guitar, mandolin, ukulele, tambourine, piano and several oddball percussion pieces (see below), this is a musical hurricane that can\u2019t be stopped.<\/p>\n This cast is different from the last iteration (2010), except for Deborah Gilmour Smyth, who seems to have a lock on Sanders matriarch Vera. This version is a tad too cloyingly obsequious for my taste, but she has plenty of splendid musicality to contribute.<\/p>\n Vera\u2019s husband Burl is played by Rik Ogden this year. Usually seen in the band, Ogden is a welcome presence, demonstrating both musical and acting chops.<\/p>\n Steve Gouveia, frequently seen on local stages, is excellent as Burl\u2019s brother-with-a-past Stanley.<\/p>\n Annie Buckley plays big-voiced Denise Sanders, who has Hollywood ambitions and is waiting for a callback from Selznick. Her twin brother is just the opposite; shy, diffident, and with hopes of becoming a preacher, Dennis (newcomer Beau Brians) can barely get a sentence out.<\/p>\n This show is more Pentecostal revue than play, and audiences respond accordingly, clapping along and voicing frequent approval.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a hootenanny fan, and fond of gospel and bluegrass, this show\u2019s for you.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/23.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Untitled-1-copy.jpg\")
June Sanders, the \u201cnon-singing\u201d member of the family, is played (somewhat ironically) by Katie Sapper, who is known to sing just fine, thank you. But here she says, \u201cI don\u2019t sing, I sign\u201d and limits her musical contributions to the percussion section, playing coconut shells, a washboard, tambourines and a Quaker Oats box with coins inside.<\/p>\n