Based on an actual annual event and the documentary that captured it, Hands on a Hardbody is a rare bird—a documentary musical. This unique production recreates the now defunct annual contest of the same name at a Texas truck dealership, where ten hard-luck Texans compete to win a new hardbody truck. A new lease on life is so close each of them can touch it; for once, their fate is quite literally in their hands.
Under a scorching sun for days on end, we watch them laugh, cry, and push their bodies and minds to the limits as they fight to keep at least one hand on the brand new truck, all hoping they have the nerve and endurance to drive away with the American Dream.
Hands on a Hardbody is a thrilling and hilarious musical featuring a country-rock-pop score by Trey Anastasio—frontman for the rock band Phish—and Amanda Green and a script by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife, The Little Mermaid, Grey Gardens, War Paint). Featuring a catchy combination of rhythm and blues, rockabilly, gospel, rock and roll, and country songs, Hands on a Hardbody is a peek into the lives of everyday, ordinary Americans, struggling to survive against the backdrop of a broken and beaten American middle class and working class.
This production is directed by Katrina Ploof, with Philip King as Music Director and Conductor of the Hands on a Hardbody live onstage band.
Performances by: Gregg Bleam, John Corneilson, Dennis Cutter, Hector DeLeon, Denise Glickler, Ashley Hall, Lee Kelly, Pam Miller-Smith, Rick C. Moore, Kelise Nettles, Ashley Peters, Andre Provencher, Nicholas Querino, Miranda Robinson, Kyle Scarberry, and Derick Taylor-White.
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In ‘Hands on a Hardbody,’ a contest and sense of community
By Matthew J. Palm
I haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Bay Street Players in their historic State Theatre in Eustis for quite some time, but due to some fortuitous scheduling I found myself making the drive to check on “Hands on a Hardbody,” which opens the company’s 49th season.
If ever there was a show that would be appropriate for community theater — with its volunteer, mostly amateur actors — this was it, was my thinking. After all, “Hands on a Hardbody” is about a bunch of regular Joes and Janes in a small, rural community. True, the setting is Texas, not Lake County, but the spirit is much the same.
The hardbody in the title is in fact, a $22,000 pickup truck coveted by the residents of Longview, Texas. A local dealership is giving the vehicle away in a contest. The catch? The winner will be the last person standing, with one hand touching the truck — a grueling ordeal that stretches days, with only a short break each six hours.
Over the course of the show — written by Doug Wright, whose resume runs the gamut from “The Little Mermaid” to “I Am My Own Wife” — the audience learns about the hopes, dreams, traumas and attitudes of the 10 contestants. Much of the sharing is done through the appropriately country-pop-rock score by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, who also wrote the lyrics.
The Bay Street production is directed by Katrina Ploof, who has a long history in Central Florida of directing at Mad Cow Theatre and the Garden Theatre and acting all the way back to the days of the old Civic Theatre.
Here, Ploof smartly plays to her cast’s strengths and finds a naturalness in their stories despite the theatricality of the story’s setup. Equally smart, her staging allows the truck to fade into the background to put the focus on the characters’ emotions.
Those characters include Benny, a blowhard who has won the contest before and is determined to be victorious again. Community theater stalwart Andre Provencher amusingly keeps Benny likable even through his scheming and offensive ideas.
Sympathetic performances come from Nicholas Querino as a young veterinary student and Ashley Hall as a devout music-loving woman. Lee Kelly has a natural charisma that serves him well as good-natured rascal Ronald.
The best voices are found in a pair of young women: Kelise Nettles as a UPS worker with dreams beyond her small-town life, and Miranda Robinson as Heather, a contestant with a secret.
Music director Philip King gets good sound out of his onstage trio (and kudos on having live music) and makes the anthemic duet between Nettles and a besotted fellow contestant, played by Kyle Scarberry, the show’s musical high point.
Not everyone has a strong singing voice, but those challenged in that area mostly find character-driven ways to bring their contestants to life — though writer Wright has unfortunately saddled the dealership employees with a lot of bickering that drags on the story.
Nina Vatter, the theater’s production manager, points out in her curtain speech that this is a true community theater dependent upon volunteers. And there’s something small-town heartwarming in hearing her thank local towing companies for their help in getting the truck onstage.
Equally uplifting is reading in the playbill that it’s Scarberry’s first time appearing in a mainstage show at the theater; he auditioned at the urging of his fiancee — who it turns out is his onstage romantic partner, Nettles.
That’s community.