Pump Boys & Dinettes

Description

DETROIT LAKES, MN – It’s the friendliest, happiest show in town! Troupe America Inc., the same theatre company that brought you The Church Basement Ladies, is now bringing the Broadway smash-hit Pump Boys & Dinettes to the Holmes Theatre on Friday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m.
 
Set in a gas station and diner, the “Double Cupp Diner,” on Highway 57 somewhere in Grand Old Opry country, the musical stars four gas station attendants and two waitresses who sing and play all manors of instruments including kitchen utensils. The music is a quirky, highly imaginative blend of country, rock-a-billy, swing, rock and roll, and jazz. One selection, “The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine,” reached number 67 on the Hot Country Songs charts.
On Feb. 4, 1982, Pump Boys & Dinettes opened on Broadway at the Princess Theatre. There had been nothing like it before and audiences and critics fell in love with its downhome, earthy celebration of the simple things in life. With songs that celebrated friendship, vacations, hard work, fishing, and color TV, Pump Boys & Dinettes garnered three Tony Award nominations and two Drama Desk Award nominations.
Pump Boys & Dinettes was created by two friends, Jim Wann and Mark Hardwick, who experimented with the concept while playing five nights a week at a New York steakhouse. The idea took off from there and with help of contributors and fellow performers; John Foley, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, and John Schimmel, they made their way to the lights of Broadway and on to London’s West End. Subsequent productions have been seen across the country including long runs in Chicago and Minneapolis, and an award-winning run at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.