Church Basement Ladies’ ‘Last Supper’

When Minnesota-based award-winning authors Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson gave the go-ahead for their book, Growing Up Lutheran (Redbird Productions, September 1997), to be transformed for the stage, no one could have imagined how popular the quirks and idiosyncrasies Minnesotans grow up with and become accustomed to in many Lutheran church basements would gain national popularity. Eight years after The Church Basement Ladies first took the stage, there’s little doubt.Now, the Plymouth Playhouse hosts the fifth and likely final installment of the musical comedy, The Church Basement Ladies in The Last (Potluck) Supper, opening August 1 and running through February, 2014. Amazingly, the original cast is still intact (read more in our September issue). Each of the previous four shows originated at Plymouth Playhouse. “It’s a huge success story that has brought a lot of attention to Plymouth both in entertainment and financially,” says Linda Twiss, publicist with Troupe America, Inc. which produces the series for the Plymouth Playhouse.