Celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Spitfire Grill remains a story of healing, on and off the stage. The musical, based on the 1996 film of the same name, follows a young woman’s search for a fresh start at a rural Wisconsin town’s beloved local grill.
The book was co-written by Wisconsin natives James Valcq and Fred Alley, childhood friends with the desire to expand on the original screenplay. “I thought the language could be even more poetic,” Valcq says. “And the only way to really go into that kind of poetry is to sing – to go beyond poetic prose.”
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With encouragement from legendary playwright Arthur Laurents, the pair rewrote their own emotionally resonant ending, regardless of the film’s tragic one. But just before the show’s Off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons in 2000, Alley died from a sudden heart attack at age 38.
“He was a great writer, but he was an even better rewriter,” Valcq says. “For him, nothing was ever finished.”
For the first time since then, Valcq is making significant changes to the material ahead of directing The Spitfire Grill at Skylight Music Theatre from Feb. 27-March 15. “I feel free to really dig deep and not just put Band-Aids on it but really try to fix it,” says Valcq, who also wrote the music. “And there’s an extra helping of Fred in this show.”
Changes include previously unused scenes and songs, new music and greater hope for characters who once lacked it in earlier productions of the award-winning show. “Not everybody is perfectly happy at the end,” Valcq says. “But I think finally, after 25 years, they all can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel is just a little shorter for some than it is for others.”
Although it’s been produced over 700 times – in regional theaters, community and school productions, and international stagings – the show’s world remains rooted in Wisconsin.
“The story has become more mythic to me over the years, more of a fable, to the point where the grill itself is symbolic, representing a place where healing is possible or forgiveness can be found,” Valcq says. “And the places that are spoken of are still Wisconsin, but this is a story that could really happen anywhere and at almost any time in history.”
And through the revisions and new additions, The Spitfire Grill remains a bittersweet tribute to Alley.
“It’s all his,” Valcq says. “I don’t have any music in me without words. Everything I’ve written was directly inspired by Fred’s words. I think The Spitfire Grill is the clearest expression of all the good things Fred taught us while he was alive.”
“The Spitfire Grill”: Feb. 27-March 15 at Skylight Music Theatre
