John Schimmel News

Next month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Pump Boys And Dinettes: Reunion Concert featuring original cast/creators Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, Jim Wann,John Foley, and John Schimmel, with Bob Stillman. Pump Boys And Dinettes ran for 577 performances on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for Best Musical in 1982. It was the first Broadway hit written and performed by Actor-Musicians and is considered a pioneering work in that regard. The London/West End production was nominated for an Olivier for Best Musical, 1985, and the Toronto version won Canada's Dora Award for Best Musical shortly after. Since then it has been produced across the country and around the world, became Chicago's longest-running musical for decades and remains a perennial favorite. This concert version will feature the entire score and is directed by JoAnn M. Hunter.

Birmingham musician and storyteller Norton Dill, of local favorite The Dill Pickers, headlines TNT's next offering, 'Pump Boys and Dinettes.' The musical is the fifth production of the theatre's 32nd season and runs April 19 through May 4.

Birmingham musician and storyteller Norton Dill, of local favorite The Dill Pickers, headlines TNT's next offering, "Pump Boys and Dinettes." The musical is the fifth production of the theatre's 32nd season and runs April 19 through May 4.

PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES is an amazing country musical with comedy and a talented cast who play their own instruments, telling the story, mostly through song. The Connecticut Cabaret Theatre, in Berlin, CT, has once again put together a first rate cast. For a night of great music and entertainment, I highly recommend PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES.

Artistic Director Carol Piersol and 5th Wall Theatre in partnership with The American Theatre in Hampton, Virginia are thrilled to announce their co-production of Pump Boys and Dinettes, a musical that brought the warmth and heartfelt storytelling of country music to Off-Broadway, Broadway, and West End audiences for years.  Directed by Richard M. Parison, Jr., this show features a talented cast from Virginia and beyond that includes locals Mike Bamford, Rachel Marrs, and Desiree Roots along with New York performers Mike Cefalo and John Mervini as well as North Carolina performer Sean Powell with music direction by Storm Burks and choreography by Karen Getz.  Pump Boys and Dinettes is set on a lonely stretch of Highway 57, where the Pump Boys -- Jackson, Jim, Eddie, and L.M. -- fill the gas tanks of weary travelers while the Cupp sisters, Rhetta and Prudie, serve up comfort food and slices of their famous homemade pie in the Double Cupp Diner next door.  Together, they fashion an evening of down home country music delight with tales of both hilarity and heartbreak played on everything from guitars and pianos to kitchen utensils.

Oscar -winner Louis Gossett Jr. is stepping into the role of Judge George Taylor in the timely, reality-inspired feature film FOSTER BOY, currently in production. He replaces James Earl Jones, who became unavailable due to a scheduling conflict with another project. Gossett began work on Dec. 6.

For those wishing to take a trip back to a simpler era, Biddeford City Theater's production of Pump Boys & Dinettes serves up a wistful, warm slice of nostalgia together with a foot-tapping country musical score that is guaranteed to leave the audience smiling and singing along. The 1980s juke box musical written by members of the band of the same name (John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, Jim Wann) is set in a small North Carolina town on Highway 57 where four men who work at a gas station and two waitresses who run the adjacent Double Cupp Diner tell stories and jam on guitars, piano, bass, and kitchen utensils. The tunes are vintage country rock, filled with humor, heartache, a longing for the adventures of the road, and the flavors of small town southern life. Anchored by the show's remarkable music director, Kevin Smith, on piano, the seven-person cast sings, dances, and plays their heart out.

Pump Boys And Dinettes a down-home musical full of country fun opens at City Theater in Biddeford March 10th. Welcome to the Double Cupp Diner, way down on Highway 57 between Frog Level and Smyrna, where the pie is fresh, and the waitresses are like the coffee - hot! The boys from the gas station next door play a high-octane blend of country and bluegrass packed with entertaining toe-tappers about life, love, and good times. Come on in and let good American folk music melt your troubles away with a generous serving of great music and foot-stomping fun.

Pump Boys And Dinettes a down-home musical full of country fun opens at City Theater in Biddeford March 10th. Welcome to the Double Cupp Diner, way down on Highway 57 between Frog Level and Smyrna, where the pie is fresh, and the waitresses are like the coffee - hot! The boys from the gas station next door play a high-octane blend of country and bluegrass packed with entertaining toe-tappers about life, love, and good times. Come on in and let good American folk music melt your troubles away with a generous serving of great music and foot-stomping fun.

Pump Boys And Dinettes a down-home musical full of country fun opens at City Theater in Biddeford March 10th. Welcome to the Double Cupp Diner, way down on Highway 57 between Frog Level and Smyrna, where the pie is fresh, and the waitresses are like the coffee - hot! The boys from the gas station next door play a high-octane blend of country and bluegrass packed with entertaining toe-tappers about life, love, and good times. Come on in and let good American folk music melt your troubles away with a generous serving of great music and foot-stomping fun.

Five Chicago actor-musicians made their Theatre at the Center debut in this production. Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp. Directed by Brian Russell with musical direction by William Underwood, Pump Boys and Dinettes will continue through October 16.  Check out some songs from the show below!

It was a full house on Sunday, September 18, for the opening night of Pump Boys and Dinettes at Theatre at the Center in Munster. The audience was treated to a little slice of Americana with this upbeat roadside musical. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!

Even if you are familiar with the seldom produced country musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes" you're reaction to it probably isn't a wild one. In fact when I heard it was opening Village Theatre's season I thought, "Well, this will be cute" but my excitement didn't go much further beyond "cute". I'd seen the show once years ago and have had the cast album forever but it's not what you might call one of my "go to" shows. But with this new production out at Village Theatre that may all change. This is not the production from the 80's or really any production you're likely to have seen. With this level of talent and new orchestrations this could revive this old chestnut. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Five Chicago actor-musicians make their Theatre at the Center debut in the musical Pump Boys and Dinettes.  Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp.   The director is Brian Russell and William Underwood is Music Director. 

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. Click below to go behind the scenes!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Five Chicago actor-musicians make their Theatre at the Center debut in the musical Pump Boys and Dinettes.  Christine Mild as Rhetta Cupp, Shaun Whitley as Jim, Matt Holzfeind as Jackson, Matt Edmonds as L.M. and Cody Siragusa as Eddie are joined by Veronica Garza, who returns to the TATC stage to play Rhetta's sister Prudie Cupp.   The director is Brian Russell and William Underwood is Music Director.