Description

Eve Wilfong is visited by her niece Catherine, a novice nun who has been asked to leave her convent. Catherine yells unsuitable words at the wrong moment and barks like a dog. Roy is attracted to Catherine, whether she is a nun or not. What follows is a charming romantic comedy loaded with good country tunes.

Credits

Reviews

‘Nice People’ works on multiple levels
- Mike Cook, Las Cruces Bulletin

Waiting for Black Box Theatre’s (BBT) production of “Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” to begin on opening night, I reflected on the past 22 years, since BBT opened in September 2001 with a brilliant production of “Seascape.” In BBT’s second season, I was lucky enough to be cast by director Bradd Howard in Christopher Durang’s “Beyond Therapy.” I was also in the casts of “Epic Proportions,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Big Love,” “The Complete History of Las Cruces (Abridged),” “The Hothouse,” “On Golden Pond” and “The Explorers Club.”

That’s a lot of great memories, and some of the best moments of my life.

I know the members of director Ceil Herman’s “Nice People” cast and crew and its audience will create their own very special moments and very personal memories as the show continues through Sept. 10 at BBT, 430 N. Main St.

There are many new and young faces in this delightful cast that features four members of the Bever family. Laura, Charlie and Jamin Bever are all performing at BBT for the first time; Laura, is, in fact, making her theatre debut in “Nice People.” Penny is only a 10th grader, but she is already a main-stage veteran, having recently performed in the casts of “Gypsy” at Las Cruces Community Theatre (LCCT) and “The Revolutionists” at BBT. Charlie was also in the cast of “Gypsy” and worked backstage for “The Revolutionists.” Jamin, who was terrific as “Tulsa” in “Gypsy” and worked backstage for “The Revolutionists” and BBT’s “Radium Girls,” does the off-stage voices for “Nice People.”

This show is also actor Hunter Campbell’s first production at BBT, although he has been featured in A Children’s Theatre of the Mesilla Valley productions for the past 10 years (debuting at age 7). You would never know Hunter is a high school senior – he plays an east Texas twangin’ 30-year-old to perfection in “Nice People.”

Genno Tafoya is the veteran of this cast, having appeared in multiple productions for Toad Hall, and for BBT, including “Animal Tales,” which marked BBT’s return to post-pandemic live theatre, and is still one of my favorite shows of all time.

Genno, who totally embodies his biker character, anchors the play’s first act, in front of the “Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” bar, along with Hunter and Charlie (what a marvelously irritating Jay Bob character Charlie has created!) and BBT co-owner Peter Herman’s Chevy pickup, also making its BBT debut. We move to the patio space above the bar for much of the second act, with real-life mother and daughter Laura and Penny creating entertaining dialogue about love and life between make-believe aunt and niece before they are joined by Charlie, Hunter and Genno for the show’s high-flying finale.

Remaining performances of “Nice People” are 8 pm. Friday-Saturday, Sept. 1-2 and 8-9; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3 and 10; and 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7.

Tickets are $10-$15. For reservations, call 575-523-1223. Tickets are also available at the door. Visit no-strings.org.

“Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” Delights


- William Harrold , Freelance Review

No Strings Theatre Company opens its 2023-24 season with a lighthearted production that combines comedy and romance with some down home, front porch philosophy on love, regrets, life choices, and personal relationships. “Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” is both the title of the play and the name the Houston bar that Eva Wilfong, a recent arrival from Minnesota, has cleaned up, renamed, and now manages with the bar’s owner, Jim Stools.

Eva followed her heart after a chance meeting with Jim, moved to Houston to live in an apartment over the bar, and left behind a husband and adolescent son in Minnesota. One year later she has transformed the place, managed happily for years by Jim alone, from a dirty, falling down, biker bar to a respectable “workingman’s bar with good, solid pickup trucks in an asphalt parking lot,” and has big plans to keep the place growing and changing.

Jim, meanwhile, pines for simpler days when the bar was just “Jim Stools,” his biker buddies smashed beer bottles on the floor, and he was personally “the most dangerous man in the Southwest.” He doesn’t even own a Harley anymore, just a broken down pickup truck, to his undying embarrassment and frustration.

Adding to his frustration is the presence of Eva’s son, Jay Bob (Jim refused to accept the boy’s given name of Jason and immediately bestowed a more fitting Texas handle), who is spending the summer and sending Jim into fits over his perceived laziness and disrespect.

As the play unfolds we meet Roy, Jim’s longtime friend and confidant who wants nothing more than to better himself, meet a woman, and start down a traditional road to domestic happiness. The current object of Roy’s desire is Catherine, Eva’s niece who has unexpectedly come to stay with her aunt after being asked to leave training to become a nun for unbecoming behavior.

Genno Tafoya as Jim Stools inhabits his aging bad boy biker persona perfectly, while Hunter Camp disappears fully into his role as the lanky, laconic Roy, complete with spot on southern drawl, thumbs hooked over belt, and cowboy hat.

Laura Bever is a standout as Eva, and it’s hard to believe this is her acting debut given her ease on stage, comfort with the dialogue and talent for conveying a range of emotions. Her son Charlie Bever is also excellent as the feisty, worldly beyond his years Jay Bob, and her daughter Penny Bever is strong in the role of Catharine, handling long stretches of dialogue with ease.

“Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” runs through September 10 at the Black Box Theatre, 430 N. Main Street, Las Cruces. Performances are at 8:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. on Sundays, and one performance on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7:00 p.m. Regular priced tickets are $15, seniors and students are $12, and bargain night tickets on Thursdays are $10. For more information or to reserve tickets, call the theatre at 575-523-1223.

Seating