Dustin Staggs
NWA Democrat-Gazette
What do four southern ladies, some cocktails, and the desire for a second shot in life have in common? The answer is “The Savannah Sipping Society,” a hilarious farce that will launch the 2025 season at Fort Smith Little Theatre. With themes of love, resilience and newfound friendships, this performance is ideal for celebrating Valentine’s Day, whether you’re with that special someone or riding solo.
According to director Joanne Peterson, the screenplay, written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, has a southern flavor that is going to resonate with Fort Smith audiences. The plot follows four women, each dealing with personal loss, reinvention — or both — who happen to meet by coincidence at a hot yoga class. What starts off as an uncomfortable encounter evolves into weekly happy hours when the women exchange life advice, discuss heartbreaks and toast to life’s messiness.
This is Peterson’s second mainstage FSLT show after her debut last year with “The Lost Boy.” For this production, which is much smaller in scale than “The Lost Boy,” she said she’s able to focus more deeply on the character development and the connections between the actors — all of whom grew up in the south and are fairly similar to their own characters. Peterson said she just has to let that shine through.
Charlotte Scott plays Randa (short for Miranda). Randa appears clean and put together, but underneath her careful veneer is a woman dealing with transition. Randa’s job as a natural hostess who just wants to take care of people speaks directly to Scott herself, who works as a child support attorney by day when she’s not on the stage.
“Even when her own personal life is kind of falling away, she’s still looking for ways that she can help people,” Scott said. “I like that about her.”
Marlafaye, a no-nonsense southern woman reinventing herself after her husband’s infidelity, is a role MaryBeth McAlvain plays with gusto.
McAlvain, who has the thickest and most natural of southern drawls out of the cast, got married when she was 50 and said she’s been happily married for almost 10 years, unlike her character, who’s been married for 30 years and just ditched her cheating husband. Besides that difference, she admits many of Marlafaye’s sharp one-liners feel familiar, and she might have said one a time or two.
While there aren’t any classic “Bless your heart!” lines in this production, Marlafaye said there are some variations like, “Oh sugar. It looks like me and my pimento cheese got here just in time,” giggling after she says it.
This is McAlvain’s fifth production of the writing of Jones, Hopes and Wooten, and she said this is the one with the smallest cast, meaning a bigger line load.
At 69, Dot is learning how to move forward after the loss of her husband. Actor Sharla Cameron turns 69 this month, but that’s where the similarities end. The Fort Smith native said she finds joy in working with her fellow cast members again. Actors Scott and McAlvain were in Cameron’s very first production at the Fort Smith Little Theatre.
“It’s just nice being with all these people that I really love and getting to spend time with them down here all the time,” Cameron said.
Tina Dale plays the group’s vibrant and free-spirited life coach, Jinx. While Dale, a Texas native who’s both directed and starred in FSLT productions, says she is the least like her character, she’s embraced the challenge.
“The thing I do with just about any character I have is find someone who in my life reminds me of that person,” Dale said. “And then I try to take on some of their mannerisms and some of the way they, not necessarily the way they talk, but the way they present things.”
Dale said that if her character, Jinx, could offer one piece of life advice to the audience, she would say that people should find the happy.
“I think that if you have the chance to laugh, you should do it because it gets you through a whole lot more than anything else,” she said.
“Savannah Sipping Society” sure does provide the laughs, but it also highlights the value of human connection.
Director Joanne Peterson said, “I’m hoping that a lot of people, one, will recognize that just because we’re all getting older doesn’t mean we all have to just kind of close up and not do anything.”
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FAQ
“The Savannah Sipping Society”
WHEN — Opening night: Feb. 13; evenings: Feb. 14-15, 19-22; and Sunday matinee: Feb. 16.
WHERE — Fort Smith Little Theatre, 401 N. Sixth St., Fort Smith
COST — Opening night: $20. All other performances: $13.
INFO — fslt.org/savannah-sipping-society or (479) 783-2966
FYI — For Season Flex Pass Patrons, seat selection began Feb. 1. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning 7 a.m. Feb. 6.
