In the heart of Mississippi, a fractured family gathers to mourn the passing of beloved patriarch Dewey Frye. Funerals have a way of reuniting estranged relatives. This is especially true of Dewey’s daughters, Sammy Jo and Harlene, played by Nikki Krokosz and Katie Freeman. Here, they provide a taste of their Southern fried comedy.
Harlene: I am Harlene Juniper Frye and this show is about our, uhhh, what is it Sammy?
Sammy: It is about our daddy dying, Harlene. My goodness, can you focus for one moment?
Harlene: I’m sorry Sammy Jo. Don’t bite my head off. My goodness. So this show is about our poor daddy passing and how all of our family has to come around and be together even though ….
Sammy: Yeah, even though you left 10 years ago and you barely come around unless you need money from daddy.
Harlene: Well, ah, well I am coming down now! And you don’t know everything Sammy Jo. You just can’t know everything, you know that?
Sammy: I know enough about you that all you ever want is free hand-outs.
Harlene: Know what? I don’t know what else to say.
Sammy: Well I do.
Together: Come see Southern Fried Funeral!
There is a deep-seated psychological reason the girls are at odds … although it does take an onstage food fight and a pie in the face for the truth to come out.
“Southern Fried Funeral” is onstage at Cultural Park Theatre Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 30, for a closing 3 p.m. matinee.
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“Southern Fried Funeral” introduces the loving yet dysfunctional Frye Family and their quirky friends from New Edinboro, Mississippi. After Dewey Frye suddenly dies, the next three days bring out the best and worst in his family. Matriarch Dorothy has to contend with sudden widowhood, while faced with church-committee harpy Ozella Meeks sticking her nose in the family business. Meanwhile Dorothy’s snake-in-the-grass brother-in-law makes a grab for her property, as her two grown daughters relive their childhood rivalry.
Tracy Weaver plays the part of Dorothy Frye. Originally from Pennsylvania, Tracy has performed at many community theater venues in Pennsylvania and Florida. Her stage credits include Aunt Em in “The Wizard of Oz” (The Belle Theatre), Sister Philamena in “Drinking Habits” (The Belle Theatre), Ella’s cruel and demeaning stepmother, Madame, in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” (The Belle Theatre), Rosemonde in “Dangerous Liaisons” (Lab Theater), Mrs. T in “Avenue Q” (Lab Theater debut), Lady Basildon in “An Ideal Husband” (The Naples Players), various comedic roles in “Mamma Won’t Fly” (Cultural Park Theater) and “Works in Progress,” an original Off-Broadway play at the Hudson Guild Theater in NYC.
Katie Freeman (Harlene) has previously appeared in the roles of Cinderella’s mother in “Into the Woods” (Cultural Park Theatre), Belle in “Disenchanted the Musical” (The Belle Theatre), the title role in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella for The Belle Theatre, Florinda in “Into the Woods” (The Belle Theatre), Sister Mary Leo in “Nunsense 1 & 2” (Cultural Park Theatre), Natalie in “Next to Normal” (The Belle Theater), Carrie in “Swearing Jar” (The Belle Theater), Hope in “Urinetown” (Cultural Park Theatre) and work in the ensemble of “Jekyll & Hyde the Musical” (New Phoenix Theater).
The rest of the cast includes (alphabetically) Jake Bennett as Dewey Frye Jr., Doug Brown as Benny Charles Greenwood, Eileen Haas-Linde as Ozella Meeks, David Hernandez as Beecham Lefette, Doug House as Atticus Van Leer, Cassy Terwilliger as Fairy June Cooper, Greg Wojciechowski as Dub Frye and Vicki Zielazny as Martha Ann Fox.
For more on Cultural Park Theatre, hear/read “Even after 62 seasons, Cultural Park Theatre still Cape Coral’s ‘best kept secret’.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.