Big stage for 'Small Town Girl'
by Chris Reimenschneider American-Statesman Staff
Kimmie Rhodes, above, performs a song during the first scene of her musical 'Small Town Girl' at Luck, Texas, a simulated Old West town built on Willie Nelson's property near Briarcliff. The second act begins inside the movie set's church, at right. Photo by Ralph Barrera/AA-S
Why were Joe Sears and Joe Ely hanging around Willie Nelson's fictitious Wild West town of Luck, Texas, last weekend?
Better yet, what were angels, clowns and circus performers doing out there?
In a true display of Austin arts cross-pollination (via some busy worker bees, no less), the "Greater Tuna" star and ever-tuneful rocker were part of a fantasy-laden musical written by country-folk singer Kimmie Rhodes -- a friend to many, it seems. Not only had Rhodes managed to recruit Ely to co-star in the production (titled "Small Town Girl" and loosely based on her own West Texas upbringing), but she'd also snagged Sears to co-star and direct, and somehow she talked her longtime pal Willie into letting last weekend's three invitation-only workshop performances take place on his property near Briarcliff, 30 minutes west of Austin.
The Luck Church House is the location of the opening scene of act two in the Kim Rhodes musical "Small Town Girl"Photo by Photographer/AA-S.
It was perhaps the best set design that a low- to no-budget production could hope for: an authentic frontier town that's already built. Nelson raised it many years back as a set for "Red-Headed Stranger" and other movies, and he has since let it stand as a testament to, well, Williedom. Rhodes and her crew were definitely lucky to be in Luck. Though the set pre-dated the '50s setting of "Small Town Girl," its rustic buildings like the wooden opera house and a one-room church reeked of West Texas. And the town really was the set, with the crowd being led up and down Luck's main street during the performance, the starry sky and half-moon lighting the way.
A roaming musical, you might call it, and that wasn't all it had to offer in the unconventional department. Rhodes led the proceedings from the side of the stage -- wherever center-stage happened to be at any given moment -- singing and leading her band while Sears, Ely or her daughter, Jole Gracey, either sang along or acted out the scenes.
Ely played a down-and-out tie salesman and father to young Rose Jackson (Gracey's role). Sears performed as a grandfatherly angel who sends Rose down to Earth and then comes to her when the family's luck seems to be at its worst. That's where the angels came in. After tragedy strikes, Rose and her father end up traveling with a circus. Enter clowns, fire jugglers and various other circus performers.
The production's story and charm centered on family. Not only did Rhodes' daughter have the title role, her son and husband played in the band (as is also the case with Rhodes' club gigs). Meanwhile, Ely's wife Sharon performed as his onstage wife, and their daughter Marie was part of the ensemble cast. Willie's daughter Lana Nelson was the set dresser, and his nephew Freddy Fletcher was also in the band. Even Sears' Chihuahua had a role.
Kimmie Rhodes performs a song during scene one, West Texas Heaven on the grounds of Luck, Texas, as part of her musical "Small Town Girl." Photo by Ralph Barrera/AA-S