‘Never Get Smart With an Angel’

Shoemaker Salvatore Bustebrizzio’s life is filled with love-hate relationships.

He hates his best friend, mercilessly argues with his only son when he announces he wishes to wed a Presbyterian girl and readies to do battle with the girl’s father, John Boothe, whom he later accuses of having killed President Abraham Lincoln.

The soft spot in his day: his wife Lucia, who’s been dead for seven years. She visits regularly in times of stress to offer an equally opinionated viewpoint.

That’s the story behind playwright George Tibbles’ “Never Get Smart With an Angel,” playing this month at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center Theatre in Thibodaux.

“It’s a delightful gem of a play,” said producer Sheela Plater. “People will certainly be able to relate to the elements of family relationships. Then there’s also the differences between Italian Catholics and Presbyterians … prejudices that have, hopefully, absolved over the years.”

Directed by Eric Pellegrin, “Never Get Smart With an Angel” stars Roger Hernandez, a Thibodaux cop who immediately recognized Salvatore.

“I am almost at a loss for words because [Salvatore] is so much like my dad,” he said, chuckling. “I think every family has a Sal in it.

“I hate to call him bigoted, but he is. He’s very headstrong, very opinionated. He has absolutely no problem telling people what is on his mind,” Hernandez added. “He loves his family unconditionally and will do anything for them like any typical Italian guy. If he likes you, he likes you forever. If he doesn’t, he’s never going to. Kind of like Cajuns.”

Opposite Salvatore’s character is Carmine Sostenuto, played by longtime Thibodaux Playhouse thespian Paul Cook. It is Carmine – by pulling a bait-and-switch on Salvatore – that helps future doctor Paola Bustebrizzio (played by Andrew Simoncelli) win his father over to the notion of a mixed marriage.

When World War II calls Paola away, his bride (they secretly wed) moves in with Salvatore, much to the chagrin of her banker father. Adrienne Bolton plays Dorothy Boothe, and the Rev. Donnie Wilkinson and Adrienne Naquin-Bolton play her parents.

The pastor at First United Methodist Church, Wilkinson finds himself playing the epitome of the very biases he preaches against from the pulpit.

“I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life trying to root out bigotry and hatred – reading people by how they look or external things,” he explained. “I find it a lot of fun playing somebody who is just as bigoted as they come.”

It’s a bumpy ride for Boothe, Salvatore and Carmine when Dorothy takes shelter at the Bustebrizzio second-floor apartment. It also proves to be eye opening as opinions shift when Dorothy falls ill.

“There’s a lesson for all in not judging people,” Wilkinson said. “My character is Scotch/Irish. He believes anybody from southern Europe can’t be any good. Just like today, [we think] anybody from the Middle East can’t be any good. We make those judgments before we get to know them.

“[The play] is a comedy, but there’s a lesson to be learned in it,” he added.

As the late Lucia Bustebrizzio, Thibodaux Playhouse board member Daphne Hebert’s character would be the voice of reason were it not for the fact that she, like her husband, has opinions of her own. “She’s not at all like me, so I have enjoyed bringing her to life.”

Throughout the show, Lucia is seen knitting, a skill Hebert learned for the part.

“She’s making angel wings for Salvatore’s arrival in heaven,” Hebert said of Lucia. “I wanted it to look natural. Instead of holding the knitting, I wanted to actually be doing it and, in case there were other knitters in the audience who would know if I was faking it or not.”

Complicated family ties, the usual daily upheaval of trying to get by teamed with bigotry and prejudices are actually made funny in “Never Get Smart With an Angel,” producer Plater said.

“This is a charming little play that is actually not one that is known,” she said. “It’s a little gem that we are resurrecting that we hope everyone can relate to and everyone will enjoy.”

Roger Hernandez (Salvatore Bustebrizzio) and real-life sweetheart Daphne Hebert (the late Lucia Bustebrizzio) rehearse a scene from Thibodaux Playhouse’s latest offering “Never Get Smart With an Angel.”