STAGE REVIEW : Plot-Shy ‘Pump Boys, Dinettes’ Warms Up Crowd at Gem Theatre

In “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” which is at the Gem Theatre in Garden Grove through June 25, Tin Pan Alley takes a detour somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna. There, on mythic Highway 57 at a little truck stop, the down-home gas pumpers and the corn-pone waitresses put on a slight, crowd-pleasing revue of 20 country songs, a tap dance and a raffle.

The reed-thin show has no plot, relying instead on hayseed charm and quaint good will.

You have to scratch your head over the Grove production. Not only was it physically shoehorned, it lacked the conviction of an imaginary world made real. While serviceable as a novelty revue, the show failed to dramatize why the songs needed a theatrical context. The pump boys and dinettes rarely seemed to believe in themselves as characters (with the energetic exception of Kelli Evans, who threw herself headlong into the role of Rhetta). They could just as well have strummed their guitars and beat their pots and pans at a nightclub, minus the costumes and the set.

Even so, the musical held the audience in thrall to its countrified style. Much of the credit has to go to the wry humor of the lyrics because the tunes are more or less forgettable, and to Jerry Siggins, whose professional competence as Jim held the show together.

Apart from his musical talent, Tom Griffin was funny as L.M. singing “Farmer Tan.” And as Jackson, Gary Grantham’s deadpan devotion to a cashier in the second-act song “Mona” was one of the show’s sterling moments.

Performances run at 12852 Main St., Garden Grove, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. through June 25. Tickets: $13 to $16 . (714) 636-7213.