Theater review: ‘Kountry Girls’

There is a lot more music than food served at Mama’s Kountry Cafe.

That fictional eatery serves as the central locale for The Kountry Girls, a new musical by Sonny Franks, Ken Murchison and Andrew Clendenen that opened Monday at Theatre Three.

This show, which bills itself as a “folk musical,” tells its tale primarily by setting new lyrics to old tunes, such as Camptown Ladies and Buffalo Gals. The storyline focuses on Butch (Franks) and his ex-wife, Katy (Christia Voss), who runs the cafe.

Butch is a hard-drinking, womanizing country singer. Katy is the stalwart single mom who runs her business and looks after her daughters, Dee Dee (Alexis Nabors) and May (Kelly Silverthorn). Things get complicated when Butch shows up and wants the daughters to join him and his son, Junior (Ian Mead Moore), on the road, at the same time that Katy’s other ex-husband, Clinton (Gregory Lush), arrives unexpectedly.

But the plot does not really matter very much. About the only salvageable aspects of this production, directed by Kerry Cole, are some of its musical performances.

Nabors and Silverthorn are magical when they join voices. Their harmonizing is so sweet and pure that it is hard to believe they are not really sisters. Voss also does a great job with her songs. And Franks’ guitar playing is impeccable.

This show is played very broadly and wears its red neck proudly. The accents are comically thick, and no cliche or stereotype about the South or country music is left unturned. For that reason, it is hard to imagine a show less suited to its venue. Doing this show in Uptown Dallas is like trying to sell cheap beer in a wine bar.

This musical is especially disappointing because Franks and a few of his castmates are so talented. They deserve a better concept.

And the ticket-buying public certainly deserves something better than stale humor wrapped around a series of campfire songs with revised lyrics.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Theater review: ‘Kountry Girls’."