Pump Boys and Dinettes

The musical was created by two friends who worked at The Cattleman restaurant in New York City, dramatizing their experiences there.[1] It started as a two-man act and then expanded.[2] As Jim Wann, the show's principal author and composer recalled in 2010,

I was a scuffling songwriter/guitarist and Mark Hardwick was a piano player/actor.... Mark and I were unemployed and happy to take a job playing five nights a week in the Cattleman Lounge, attached to a restaurant on one of the darker blocks west of Grand Central. Our mission was to play country standards to entertain the "tired businessman" who had come for the drinks, the steaks, and the waitresses in classic Western saloon girl attire. On slow nights we'd play original songs I was writing for Mark's emerging comic persona.... Mark came in one night wearing a matching dark blue twill shirt and trouser outfit [and] I went out and bought one just like it. By and by we had oval patches over the pockets with our names in them.... So we became guys who worked at the gas station. ... Our imaginations were taking over and our Pump Boys repertoire began to grow. The Cattleman management soon grew tired of this nonsense and showed us the saloon door.[3]

The musical premiered on Broadway on February 4, 1982, at the Princess Theatre and closed on June 18, 1983, after 573 performances. The cast featured Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. It had premiered at the Chelsea West Side Arts Theatre on July 10, 1981, moving to the Colonnades Theatre (Greenwich Village) in October 1981.[4] Replacements through the show included Loudon Wainwright III, who took over the role of "Jim" (originally played by Jim Wann).

The show played in London's West End at the Piccadilly Theatre from September 20, 1984, to June 8, 1985, and transferred to the Albery Theatre from June 11, 1985, to September 2, 1985.[5][6] The production starred, amongst others, Paul Jones, Clodagh Rodgers, Joe Brown, Brian Protheroe, Carlene Carter and Kiki Dee.

The show played for many years in Chicago at the Apollo Theater on Lincoln Avenue.

A 1983 touring version of the show featured former pop star Nicolette Larson. Larson's performance in the show was well-received, and it began a brief foray into country music for her.[7]

On July 16–19, 2014, the show was revived for five performances at New York City Center as part of the Encores! Off-Center program. The cast featured Hunter Foster, Mamie Parris, Randy Redd, Katie Thompson and Jordan Dean.[8]

On July 22, 2018, the original cast (save Mark Hardwick, who died in 1991) performed two full-score concert versions of the show at Feinstein's/54 Below in Manhattan.[9]

The musical tells the story of four men (L.M., Jackson, Jim and Eddie) who work at a gas station and two waitresses (sisters Prudie and Rhetta Cupp) at the Double Cupp Diner, located somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, North Carolina. The music is mostly from the country rock/pop music genres. They perform on guitars, piano, bass and kitchen utensils.[10]

The original cast album was released by CBS Records in the U.S. Its recording of "The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine" reached number 67 on the Hot Country Songs charts.[11]

In 2021, Porchlight Music Theatre premiered a new song written by Jim Wann for this Chicago production, "Surf Castin' Man." Porchlight's production was directed by Daryl Brooks, music directed by Robert Reddrick and choreographed by Rueben D. Echoles. "Surf Castin' Man" was performed by Frederick Harris with the cast that also included Rafe Bradford, Shantel Cribbs, Ian Paul Custer, Melanie Loren and Billy Rude.

Pump Boys and Dinettes on Television was a pilot episode for a series adaptation of the show featuring the Broadway cast and appearances by Ron Carey and Tanya Tucker. It aired on NBC on August 15, 1983, but a series was never ordered.[12]

Lyrics and music by Jim Wann (unless otherwise noted)

• ​Pump Boys and Dinettes​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• ​Pump Boys and Dinettes​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• History and background
• Synopsis at Guide to Musical Theatre
• Pump Boys and Dinettes revived in New York in 2011 by Numero Uno Productions