Musical is novel approach to Edgerton's 'Lunch'

In the dream — which just might be worth dreaming — churches will cease to exist. So will nursing homes.

The two institutions will be combined into "nurches," bringing together all for worship, care and fellowship, whether they reside in nurches or not.

That's how the rebellious residents of the First Breakfast Club at Rosehaven Convalescence Center envision the future. And make no mistake about it: The residents — including Lil, Clara and L. Ray Flowers, a retired preacher — intend to make their dream known across the country.

Welcome to a principal storyline in "Lunch at the Piccadilly," one of Clyde Edgerton's best-selling novels. And welcome to the musical of the same name, which Festival Stage of Winston-Salem will present starting Thursday in Hanesbrands Theatre.

"This is very exciting for me, especially with it happening in Winston-Salem, not far from where I grew up (near Durham)," said Edgerton, who has written the musical's script. "I've been real lucky working with Mike and Steve."

Edgerton was referring to Mike Craver, a composer-musician who wrote the music for "Lunch" and will perform in it at Hanesbrands, and to Steve Umberger, the show's director and co-producer.

Bo Thorp, who serves as the artistic director of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, had a key role in giving "Lunch" its first legs. In the Winston-Salem production, she will play Lil, also the name of one of Edgerton's aunts. The real-life Aunt Lil entered a nursing home in 1996, and Edgerton visited her often, drawing literary inspiration from the experience.

In 2006, the first version of "Lunch" was staged at Cape Fear. The second version was two years later at the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville. These previous presentations — along with numerous script drafts and what Umberger described as "lots of IHOP meetings with Clyde and Mike" — were steps in developing the show.

The creative team of "Lunch" hopes to interest professional and community theaters across the country. One factor that could help this happen was the decision to cut the cast from 12 to seven. "Regional professional companies … prefer smaller casts to larger casts," Craver said, adding that such shows are less expensive to produce.

But Edgerton said he wouldn't have reduced the cast if it didn't work artistically.

"I actually believe it's a stronger play," he said. "The act of cutting characters has helped (us) focus on the best elements of the play. The plot is less cumbersome or more eloquent somehow. It was a very funny play. It might be even funnier."

Edgerton stressed that the musical version focuses on what originally was one theme in the novel — the making of a community within a community.

"If you condense the whole novel, you end up with a Reader's Digest play," Edgerton said. "You have to find a short story within the novel."

Other reasons that "Lunch" might achieve the next level, Thorp said, was Craver's songs, which Thorp described as meaningful, honest and clever. She delighted in Edgerton's trademark humor, which also brightened such novels as "Walking Across Egypt" and "Killer Diller."

"After 2,000 years of Last Suppers, we need a First Breakfast to follow it up," Thorp said, referring to one of the show's memorable lines. "He's just the funniest man. It's so much fun to know you've got one of those big zingers coming. It's so clever."

Craver and Thorp both plugged the uplifting nature of the show and the heroic people.

"They're trying to start this (nurches) movement," Craver said. "It's a great thing, even if it never happens. Having a dream isn't the worst thing you can do. It's sure as hell a lot better than folding up your tent and submitting to depression."

In Thorp's eyes, the Rosehaven rebels exemplify how we should all lead the last chapters of our lives.

"It is the union of this (First Breakfast) club that has made them stronger and happier," she said. "They can't wait to have another meeting. It's something to look forward to. The end is there when you don't have anything else to wake up for."

KKeuffel@wsjournal.com

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