The fictional town of Sylva Ridge, Tennessee, is home to big hair, big personalities, and a big annual Christmas pageant coordinated by the Silver Belles – longtime friends Oralene, Gloria, Ruth Ann, and Berneice. After the sudden and tragic death of their leader, the other Belles must pull together to keep the pageant afloat. Packed full of familiar country and Christmas tropes, The Silver Belles is a straightforward musical celebration of friendship and perseverance.
Directed by Susan Sanford, Virginia Rep’s holiday production at November Theatre is a festive holiday trifle buoyed by charming performances and gorgeous stagecraft.
The Silver Belles opens shortly after Oralene’s death, painting a quick picture of the character through the remembrances of her loved ones: the Belles; their friend and stage manager, Bo Jack; and her husband, Earl. Oralene wrote lyrics for the pageant each year, coordinated the Belles’ various talents and attitudes, and produced Sylva Ridge’s best moonshine. Her absence is strongly felt, and many of the play’s best-written moments center around that grief. Many of the characters are familiar and archetypal in a way that could risk seeming uncomplicated, but the cast tackles these beats of grief and uncertainty with skill.
Catherine Shaffner, who appeared most recently in Virginia Rep’s production of POTUS this summer, stands out as Bo Jack. She excels in both serious and comedic scenes — her on-air AM radio host persona is immediately recognizable and very funny, and she carries that humor into a complex portrayal of bittersweet camaraderie when she and Earl (Joe Pabst) mourn Oralene together. Robyn O’Neill is wistful and delightfully weird as Berneice. She delivers some of the musical’s strangest and most entertaining numbers with a gleeful earnestness that really works. As Gloria, Kimberly Fox Knight’s singing performance is especially great, and she uses that vocal control and skill to squeeze every drop of comedy out of her songs.
Prepare to Laugh, Clap, and Jingle with The Silver Belles
As a feel-good Christmas story, The Silver Belles is often sweet and sentimental – but in its most entertaining moments, the story cracks open just a little into something strange and fun. Julie Fulcher-Davis’s energetic, stilted dancing and twirling as Ruth Ann is unexpected and delightful. Without giving too much away, Joe Doran’s lighting design and Jacob Mishler’s sound design are striking and creative. They enhance the storytelling and punctuate all the surprises the production has to offer. The terrific live band is smartly set up onstage, where they provide a dynamic and playful element to the performance.
The stage at the November Theatre is richly decorated and a vital part of the production’s festive feel. Mercedes Schaum’s scenic design includes enormous, gorgeously painted ornaments that correspond with individual characters. They are raised and lowered during the show, providing both the occasional sight gag and a visual representation of the characters’ relationships and focus from scene to scene.
The Silver Belles is a pleasant, glitzy holiday musical about celebrating those we’ve lost and coming together to meet new challenges. It weaves original songs and Christmas classics together with a country spin. The production’s boisterous, friendly attitude is contagious – the audience at the Saturday matinee I attended was laughing, clapping, and jingling all the way.
You can catch The Silver Belles at the November Theatre through the end of the year. The show runs for ninety minutes with no intermission. Find more information and tickets at VirginiaRep.org.
