'Smoke on the Mountain' is in need of some singers

With

Smoke on the Mountain

, a quaint collection of religious tunes loosely homespun around the Sanders Family Singers, Hedgerow Theatre should have an easy hit. It's the sort of light entertainment the company favors, no unwieldy plot to contend with, just a mess of singin' and witnessin' in an old-time country church.

The show is a regional-theater perennial with a permanent home in Branson, Mo., that shrine to idealist Americana. It's even evolved into a sort of Appalachian

Greater Tuna

, complete with its own franchise (

Sanders Family Christmas

;

Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming

). So what went wrong?

For starters, considering that this show relies almost entirely on the success of its musical numbers, director Peter Reynolds might have thought to hire just a couple of actors who could sing. Well, OK, there's one: Newton Buchanan, as the Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe. Buchanan has pulled more than one of Hedgerow's shows out of the dumps this season; he was the saving grace in its last Mike Craver-and Mark Hardwick-related production,

Radio Gals

(they are credited with music arrangement for

Smoke

). But even the Reverend, whose rich baritone is frustratingly underused in the role, can't save these lost souls.

The whole clan is a choral catastrophe, except for Jenny Jacobs' sole non-singing Sanders, June, whose comic efforts playing spoons or cymbals, or giving very loose interpretations of American Sign Language, are a welcome relief. Separately, the actors' solos - and they just about all get one - are simply weak or wavering or occasionally inaudible. When their voices combine for the a capella "Whispering Hope," the result is a noise unto the Lord, all right, but it's far more painful than joyful, blending chaotic rhythms with haphazard melodies and off-key warbling.

Maybe Reynolds should have called in a musical director. Maybe he believed the show's charm lay in the Sanders' American-primitive appeal, with heavy emphasis on the primitive. Maybe he thought

Smoke on the Mountain

's spirit and populist reputation were so strong that the audience would just be glad to take part, singing and stomping along with his cast.

All he needed was singers; the rest - mostly confessional monologues accessible enough for an Intro to Acting class - probably would have worked itself out just fine. Instead, Hedgerow chose a cast of actors and let them figure out the singing on their own; the Lord works in mysterious ways, and apparently Reynolds does, too.

Through April 17 at Hedgerow Theatre, 64 Rose Valley Rd., Media. Tickets: $10-$30.

Information: 610-565-4211 or

» READ MORE: www.HedgerowTheatre.org

.