'Church Basement Ladies' come out of the kitchen, onto Bedell stage

If you've grown up around the smell of kettle beef cooking in mass quantities or have been caught sneaking an extra piece of pie at the potluck, chances are you can identify with the next show coming to Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

"Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping!" will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bedell Performance Hall.

The first "Church Basement Ladies" toured in 2005 and is based on the work of Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson, writers of "Growing up Lutheran." It shows the kitchen crew of women and how they handle events within the church -- a fundraiser, a wedding, a funeral.

This sequel sets the ladies in 1969 and incorporates more of the outside world in the plot. The ever-changing political and social climate touches everyone, including the group of women in this rural Minnesota community.

"There are some major transitions going into CBL2," cast member Autumn O'Ryan said. "We are now in the year 1969, so it's the Vietnam War, Nixon; there are lots of things going on outside of the church that are sort of directly affecting the people of the church and it's affecting the neighborhood."

O'Ryan plays Mavis Gilmerson in the show.

"I'm married to Gilmer Gilmerson, who is a farmer, and we have pigs and cows, and I'm the earthy sort," O'Ryan said. "I'm also the happy one; I have a line in the show that says 'I get up, work hard, have some fun, go to bed.' That's Mavis in a nutshell."

The ladies who work "below the House of God" range from the elderly matriarch to the young mom-to-be, but all of them show strengths unique to women in their positions.

"There are a lot of changes going on with the four church basement ladies; they are all transitioning in some ways. Some are easy transitions, but some, like the matriarch, don't transition very well until the very end," O'Ryan said.

The changes involved world issues, personal trials and things within the church.

"Even the colors of the hymnals were changed to red," O'Ryan said. "Things were just moving too fast for some of them."

Even for those who haven't grown up in the Lutheran Church, the show is a funny and relatable look at the women who shape our lives. They represent mothers and grandmothers who dote and reprimand and serve the Lord as well as meals to 300 parishioners.

Deanna Vincent is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau and will be attending the show with a group of ladies from the church. She said they are excited about the show and know they will identify with the performance.

Though none of the ladies attending with Vincent has seen the first "Church Basement Ladies" musical, they anticipate identifying with the actors in this sequel.

"We're all church ladies and have worked in church kitchens and know how funny that can be," Vincent said. "We know how different personalities really shine when you get different women cooking together, so we know it will be an entertaining evening."

Vincent said there is a universal connection with church basement ladies.

"We all are very much the same, but we all just know that each of us has our quirky little habits and personalities," Vincent said. "Some of us like to have all of the silverware matching and some of us could care less if it matches, and those things just come up when you put ladies together cooking."

O'Ryan said one of the things she loves about "Church Basement Ladies 2: A Second Helping" is that you don't necessarily have to see the first to appreciate and understand the second.

"Same characters and same families, but lots of changes and some surprises, which I won't tell you about," she said.

O'Ryan said fans of "Church Basement Ladies" and this sequel have more to anticipate. Aside from a Christmas-themed third edition called "Away in the Basement," she said they are working on a fourth installment.

Church Basement Ladies "is moving right along and becoming rather episodic," she said.

As for "A Second Helping," O'Ryan said audience members should "be prepared to laugh and to cry and to see someone you know from your church in the show."

Tickets are $32 and $26 and can be purchased at the River Campus box office or by calling 651-2265. Tickets also may be purchased at all MetroTix outlets, online at metrotix.com, keyword "Church," or by calling 800-293-5949.