Sweet Potato Queens Is Uplifting, Southern-Fried Fun

By Andrea Arnold On Mar 8, 2024

JILL RITTER LINDBERG

Ann Hier Brown (top) as Too Much Tammy, singing “Funeral Food,” with her fellow Queens.

Feel-good musicals have the power to lift us up even when the characters and situations are far from our own experience. Such is the case with Sweet Potato Queens from New Line Theatre. The often laugh-out-loud funny musical about self-acceptance and finding your place in the world is a fluffily tenderhearted, uplifting show that thoroughly entertains.

The story opens with the queens in full regalia — sparkling sequin-covered party dresses, feather boas, bosoms and butts exaggerated with stuffing and teased redheaded wigs topped with bright, plastic tiaras — as they participate in Jackson, Mississippi’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. The SPQs, as they refer to themselves, are a bubbly, exuberant group with a bawdy edge that the crowd cannot resist. The show then moves back about 12 years or so to tell us how this raucous royal court came to be.

Jill, a struggling working-class mom, lives with her philandering, frequently unemployed husband and young daughter in a trailer park. She recently left her job as a customer service rep at Sears, and even though she’s behind on her bills she’s determined to set a good example for her daughter. Her mother criticizes Jill’s every move while her father, though afraid of and constantly avoiding his wife, is firm in his belief in and support of his daughter. Jill decides to treat herself to dinner and a beer at the local Chinese restaurant one night and runs into three women, all named Tammy. They and their server George form an unexpected bond that helps them find strength and acceptance.

Talichia Noah is bright, sharp-witted and increasingly self aware as Jill. Noah fills the character with kindness and charisma that wraps every corner of the theater in a big, welcoming embrace. Mara Bollini, Ann Hier Brown and Victoria Pines are wonderfully cast as the oversexed Floozie Tammy, food-obsessed Too Much Tammy and aspirational but abused Flower Tammy. Aarin Kamphoefner and Kent Coffel are affectionate and insightful as George and Daddy while Bethany Barr and Jeffrey M. Wright lean into the casually mean-spirited and self-centered Mama and Tyler, Jill’s straying husband.

The songs, backed by music director Dr. Tim Amukele and a great band, run the gamut from bluesy rock to Cajun-tinged party anthems to boogie woogie dance songs and pop numbers with solid harmonies, keeping the tone of the show upbeat despite the turmoil in the women’s lives. The inspiring “Do What Makes Your Heart Sing” and “It’s Me” earn multiple reprises, while “Make a Wish,” “Funeral Food,” “The Promise” and “Mad Dog Twenty-Twenty” are crowd-pleasing celebrations that keep the audience engaged and in good humor.

Too often, stories of empowerment, particularly women’s empowerment, can come across as preachy, judgmental or unattainable. Fortunately, Sweet Potato Queens, directed by Scott Miller and Tony L. Marr, Jr. and based on the book series by Jill Conner Browne, takes a different, more relatable path that’s satisfying and light. The characters are realistically human and imperfect; their determination to thrive is uplifting and emotionally connected, reflecting the universal desire to be loved for being you. If you’re in need of a good time that’s guaranteed to perk up your spirits, you should make plans to join the SPQ parade.

Written by Rupert Holmes, based on the book series by Jill Conner Browne. Directed by Scott Miller and Tony L. Marr, Jr.. Presented by New Line Theatre at the Marcelle Theater, (3310 Samuel Shepard Drive) through Saturday, March 23. Showtime is 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and tickets are $20 to $30. More information at newlinetheatre.com.

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