Hal Hundley had love and marriage in mind.
What he ended up with was music and motorcycles.
The Roundabout Music Theatre impresario had planned to stage "I Do! I Do!" as his next show.
But a conversation with his board president, Larry Kraus, changed his mind.
"I was ready to roll (with 'I Do! I Do!'), but there had been date changes and I wanted to tell Larry," said Hundley, explaining that the show would take place the first weekend in May.
" 'Hang on,' Larry said, 'did you know that's the same weekend as the Tucson Thunder biker festival and the Tucson Folk Festival? Can't you find something that fits that better than a warm and fuzzy show about marriage?' "
Challenges don't faze Hundley, a veteran of the Tucson musical stage and founder of the now-defunct Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, which staged its first show ("1776") at what is now the Tucson Music Hall in February 1976.
People are also reading…
After reviewing his library of scripts and scores, Hundley came up with the perfect fit for a weekend of country sounds and Harleys: "Pump Boys and Dinettes." The Tony-nominated hit has plenty of both.
"One of my big goals with the Roundabout Theatre is to present entertaining Broadway musicals with the main attention focused on the music and the performers rather than elaborate sets and scenery," Hundley said. " 'Pump Boys' turned out to be perfect for that approach. Half of the setting is supposed to be a country diner, and the other half is a gas station located on the other side of Highway 57. Four of the characters are guys who pump gas, and two of them are the Cupp sisters who run the diner — everybody plays instruments and sings. We have musicians who are a nonspeaking part of the action, so the music, the story and everything are right there in front of you in a minimal setting. The songs are great, and the spirit is way up — it's a foot-stomping show."
One member of Hundley's cast was brought in from back East — Paul Gregory Nelson, who was one of the stars of the national tour of "Victor/Victoria" and has an extensive touring and regional-theater background.
The rest of the cast consists of Tucson performers, and Hundley was happy to see people coming back to work with him whom he'd known when he was the director of SALOC. Among them are Daniel Gunther, who worked with Hundley on the opera company's "West Side Story"; and Elizabeth Clayton, who was in the company's "The Sound of Music."
"Tucson's a great town for musical theater," Hundley said on the phone. "And as for 'Pump Boys and Dinettes,' " he added with a chuckle, "no pun intended, but it really is a gas."
Preview
"Pump Boys and Dinettes"
• Conceived and written by: John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann.
• Director: Hal Hundley.
• Musical director: Patrick Murphy.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and next Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 5; and 3 p.m. May 6.
• Where: Leo Rich Theatre at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.
• Tickets: $21, with discounts available in person at the Tucson Convention Center box office, or through Ticketmaster, 321-1000.
