‘Senor Brady Jones’ returns for a reprise after 10 years

Like love, lots of things get better the second time around and the Valley Players are hoping that old adage applies to their smash hit of 10 years ago, “Senor Brady Jones.”

The show is being revived as the Valley Players’ spring production with performances scheduled for March 15-18 on the West Center stage.

The rollicking Western musical comedy, authored by Green Valley’s Barbara Mauseth, who also wrote all the clever lyrics and music, is full of fun, memorable songs, dancing, laughter, romance, action and adventure under the direction of Ray Hathaway.

The show features a cast of 13 Valley Players, including four from the original production—Dick Coler as Brady Jones, Regina Ford as B.J., Brady’s wife’s mixed-up little sister: Bill Perkins as Ma Murphy’s bumbling son Bud; and Joe Tufigno, as Armando, the wise old ranch manager who tries his best to make a cowboy out of Brady.

The plot is the stuff of which soap operas are made. A successful New York City stock broker, Brady Jones, yearns to full his boyhood dream of becoming a cowboy, so he buys a cattle ranch in Arivaca.

To his socialite wife Claire, played by Char Purrington, life on an isolated rural ranch ranks right up there with sudden death as a lifestyle option for retirement.

She hopes and prays that Brady will change his mind, but in the meantime, her little sister B.J. arrives, seething at her rich husband’s infidelity.

Fortunately, B.J. meets a cowboy, Slim, played by Mike Andrews, who is a cut above the others of his ilk on the intelligence scale, and romance ensues, but with a whole host of complications.

Gun-totin’ mama

In the midst of all this, the ranch is the target of a raid by the notorious Ma Murphy, played with consummate comedic skill by Dolly Miller.

“It’s a good story, but the music is what I think people will remember, said Hathaway, who has directed dozens of VP productions and worked with the Sahuarita High drama program for the last five years.

Hathaway, noted for his creativity, intensity and propensity to make multiple changes, quotes producer Jerry Orbach to describe how he feels about “Senor Brady Jones.”

“Musical comedy are the two most glorious words in the English language. It is the only truly unique American art form that appeals to all of the senses, provides entertainment, laughter, and all the wonderful things people feel,” Hathaway said.

“Musical comedy is no more than a frame on which to hang the music and there’s not a bad song in this whole show,” Hathaway said.

Changes have been made from the original production, which sold out, requiring the unprecedented scheduling of four extra performances.

“We’ve added two cowboys and another girl character to the cast, added a lot more choreography with more large-scale production numbers,” Hathaway explained.

Sets have been minimized to allow a lot more room for the dancing and Hathaway made a number of subtle changes in the dialogue. Repeat audience members will notice that the show opens with a much stronger, more elaborately staged rendition of Coler’s signature song, “All the World Loves a Cowboy.”

Changes were necessary Hathaway said, “because today’s local theater-going public is not what it was 10 years ago. With the Desert Diamond Casino and the Desert Sky Cinema, there’s a lot more competition than there was back in 1997,” Hathaway said.

Cast members shine

The excellent cast includes Claudia Andrews as Armando’s sister Maria, and cowboys Gene Green, Bruce Purrington, Dick Colishaw, and Cal Lambert, also the show’s producer.

Donna Green handles the choreography with a lot of verve and professionalism and also makes her debut on stage as Carmela, Maria’s sister who works at the neighboring O Bar O Ranch.

Music, under the direction of Cindy Clark, is provided by a piano, two guitars, drums and a banjo.

Sara Menendez, a University of Arizona drama student, is interning as assistant director, while Sahuarita High student Kathryn Whitely is helping costumer Jane Bristol.

Others in the crew are Martha Marsden, stage manager; Jaynie Lafata, assistant stage manger; Len Willens, photographer and adviser to the stage manger; Bill Perkins, set construction, and Gail Stober, set design.

John Miller is handling program and tickets; Marjorie Walk is house manger; Margie Schiffman is in charge of makeup; Jean Gray is on props and Shelly Freeman is in charge of lighting and sound.

Hathaway suggests that the audience come gussied up in their best Western outfits and prepare to have loads of fun with this winning show.

“But,” he joked, “we will not supply spittoons and you must check all firearms at the door.”

Tickets go on sale the first week of March.

kengle@gvnews.com | 547-9732