Harmonious ‘Smoke on the Mountain’

They once were called the Sanctified Sanders Singers, but now they’re just the Sanders Family Singers. “Sanctified” would be a bit excessive.

Still, they’re the featured attraction at the Saturday night sing at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in a Depression-battered town in North Carolina. The family has returned to the bluegrass gospel circuit for the first time in five years--and for the first time since their matriarch died.

Connie Ray and Alan Bailey’s “Smoke on the Mountain” is one of the more likable musicals to arise from the rural Americana genre. Although the show has been around since 1988, it’s only now making its Los Angeles premiere, at La Mirada Theatre, which has also hosted “Radio Gals,” “Oil City Symphony” and “Pump Boys and Dinettes” from the same genre.

Jason Edwards, from La Mirada’s “Pump Boys” in 1999, portrays Burl Sanders, the genial front man for the group. In his day job, Burl runs a filling station, where he recently had to fend off the temptation of adding beer to the selection of beverages he sells.

Another “Pump Boys” actor, David Hemsley Caldwell, directs “Smoke” and also plays Mervin Oglethorpe, the church’s host preacher. Mervin himself is also doing double duty this night: part of him wants to join the performers as often as possible, but he also has to enforce a sense of propriety.

As director, Caldwell generally lets the characters breathe while extracting the maximum comic mileage. He’s least successful at this task with his own performance, in which he indicates the comedy a little too broadly.

Linda Kerns is splendid as Burl’s wife, Vera, a diligent Bible quoter who is testing her wings as the family’s new matriarch. A member of the 1990 off-Broadway cast, Kerns is especially hilarious when she presents a children’s devotional lesson with a metaphor that flies crazily out of control.

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Despite initial impressions, the most vivid member of the clan turns out to be Burl’s brother Stanley, here solidly enacted by Don Bryant Bailey--who has been in 26 productions of this show, according to his program bio. Burly enough to deserve the name that his brother got, Stanley has recently returned to the family after some unpleasantries. Although we learn where he has been, we never quite find out why he was there, which adds a note of mystery to his character.

Burl and Vera have three children. Their grown daughter June is the only non-singer in the family, but her parents have found roles for her anyway, playing a variety of percussion instruments and also interpreting for the deaf--though there are no deaf people in the church tonight. Here in the backwoods, with no deaf community nearby, June has had to devise her own signing gestures, which actress Tess Hartman executes with deadpan aplomb, evoking some giant-sized laughs.

The other offspring are teenage twins. Johnny Hawkins is excellent as Dennis, who is being groomed as a preacher by his mother but who must first overcome a severe fear of public speaking. Emily Mikesell, a veteran of the L.A. productions of just about all of the shows within this genre, sings beautifully as the other twin, Denise, but she’s too old for the part, and Denise’s monologue is the evening’s least persuasive.

As usual in this kind of show, nearly everyone plays at least two instruments. Most of the songs are authentic from the milieu, with titles such as “Christian Cowboy” (Mikesell and Hawkins are very funny in this one) and “I’m Using My Bible for a Roadmap.”

Evangelical believers who aren’t particularly stuffy, as well as nonbelievers who aren’t particularly smug, will enjoy “Smoke.” In other words, it’s an entertainment that could bring otherwise disparate camps together in harmony.

* “Smoke on the Mountain,” La Mirada Theatre, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Feb. 11. $35. (562) 944-9801. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

Smoke on the Mountain

Jason Edwards: Burl Sanders

Linda Kerns: Vera Sanders

Don Bryant Bailey: Stanley Sanders

David Caldwell: Mervin Oglethorpe

Tess Hartman: June Sanders

Emily Mikesell: Denise Sanders

Johnny Hawkins: Dennis Sanders

Written by Connie Ray. Produced by McCoy Rigby Entertainment. Conceived by Alan Bailey. Musical arrangements by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick. Directed by David Hemsley Caldwell. Set by Gary Wissmann. Costumes by Dwight Richard Odle. Lighting by Jacqui Jones Watson. Props by Aaron King. Sound by Julie Ferrin. Stage manager Sherry Santillano.