A Review: 'The Cake' is not splashy, but it's real life
Everything is going perfectly for Della (Nicole Halmos). Her bakery, located in the heart of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has become a household name, and she's just been cast as a contestant on her favorite television baking competition.
Enter Jen (played by Olivia Billings), who is the daughter of Della's late best friend - coming home from New York to ask her to make a cake for her upcoming wedding. When Della discovers that Jen is about to marry a woman, she embarks on a journey of her deeply held beliefs with questions about morality and judgement.
This deliciously-emotional play was created by Bekah Brunstetter and is directed by Kimberli Rowley.
Cumberland Theatre opened its 34th Main Stage Season with "The Cake,” a "drama-dy" that will take audiences on an emotional ride filled with laughter and tears.
Della makes cakes, not judgment calls – those she leaves to her husband Tim (Shawn Cox). But, when the girl she helped raise comes back home to North Carolina to get married, and the fiancé is actually a fiancée, Della’s life gets turned upside down. She can’t really make a cake for such a wedding, can she? For the first time in her life, Della has to think for herself.
Nicole Halmos. I am positive that Ms. Brunstetter must have have had Nicole in mind when she wrote this play! And if by chance she didn't, she certainly could have. While it's a fact that Nicole masters all of her characters like the professionally-trained performer she is, Della was full-size on stage in this production.
Della was dripping with sweet, southern charm, and very proud of her cakes and other confections she bakes for her customers. She and her husband Tim are part of a Bible-believing culture in their town, and both their solid Christian morals come in to conflict with family and personal values.
The play bears witness to real news of recent years when businesses took a stand regarding same sex marriages, and although the subject may be a little concerning or even offensive to a few, this play brings laughter and tears. It will tap into emotions you may not even be aware, and before you know it, you are drawn into the lives of these four people - feeling their angst and their own wrestling of buried quandries.
In fact, I found the play to be the perfect mix of humor, genuine and authentic conversation and learning how to understand the whys of how and what we believe. The dialog and interaction about real feelings moved many of us in the audience to tears.
Ariana Caldwell plays the other bride Macy, and both she and Billings carried their characters throughout the show. Macy and Jen spun two totally different styles in how they were raised and grew into womanhood, and it was clear to see how their lives intersected and built this relationship like a house of cards.
There are surprises afoot, and you won't read any spoiler alerts in this review. I encourage you to call up your best friends, take in a little dinner before the show, and come to Cumberland Theatre. I promise you that with mashed potatoes by Cox, you won't ever think of those taters the same ever again without a little smile. And, what's not to love about buttercream frostin'?
There are just three chances that remain. Don't be one of those who keeps hearing great things about this production yet chooses to stay home. Seeing this cast, under Rowley's direction, make us cry, make us laugh, help us learn and feel raw emotion from the gut - WORTH IT.
Better yet, bring your significant other, and learn to "follow the directions" as Della always does - and enjoy the "instructions and insight" from George (Don Winstead). Laugh a little, laugh a lot, but make sure to be there.
It's not splashy, it's not a fancy musical with outstanding choreography, or an elaborate production with meat on the bones. What is it then? It's real, it is life today, it is giving superb actors an opportunity to take on a controversial subject and tell a story...tell a story that gives us pause to consider challenges in this life. To tell a story that makes us feel human, valuable and needed.
Production staff, in addition to Rowley, are Hayden Kline, stage manager; Rhett Wolford, set design; Jennifer Clark, costume and props design; Brendon McCabe, lighting design; Eric Ringler, assistant stage manager; Elizabeth Mudge, wardrobe assistant; Caitlin Weems, props assistant; Trevor McCabe, lightboard technician.
The show runs its final performances this weekend, Feb. 18 - 20, with Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available at cumberlandtheatre.com or by calling 301-759-4990.
"The Cake" - made possible with generous sponsorship from Doug and Betsey Hurwitz-Schwab - is performed with no intermission, and please note the show contains nudity and mild language.
Trish Morgan is a local writer, columnist, poet, actor, vocalist and theater buff who has spent many hours both on stage and back stage for numerous local productions.
This article originally appeared on Mineral Daily News-Tribune: A Review: 'The Cake' is not splashy, but it's real life
