Lately, Louisa has had no lack of local talent emerging, and this time, the spotlight is on Kenna Ashley and her original musical, Chick’s Diner, which made its worldwide debut on the Louisa Arts Center (LAC) Stage on June 6th! The musical is a menagerie of mostly blues songs that Ashley has written throughout her lifetime, inspired by real-life events and struggles of her and her friends. Together, the songs weave a colorful tapestry of laughter and fun as the light and heavy-hearted moments of life are played out by actors young and older, as they reflect on the different stages of life and how their dreams evolve along the way.

The show opens with young and hopeful aspiring performers, who bump into each other at the beloved local diner, Chick’s Diner, where patrons are greeted with the bartender’s latest attempt at coining a funny welcoming phrase, involving some sort of pun or play on words regarding chicks or chickens or poultry. “Welcome to Chick’s – Best Peep Show in Town!” “Get your kicks at Chick’s!” (Audience laughter did not need cueing!) The intentional corniness of this sets the stage for not taking life too seriously, as these fast friends form from strangers and support each other over the years.

Some of the real-life events and struggles portrayed include: a high-school pregnancy, shotgun wedding, marriage struggles, and the aftermath of a serious accident, which represents a real-life medical scare for a loved one of the cast. Moving on to the later stages of life scenes, the song “Grow Old Gracefully” reminds us to be accepting of ourselves as we reach the stage of life where we can’t do everything we used to enjoy, but that’s okay to embrace as well.

Looking into the life of Ashley, she admits she couldn’t have done this alone! “Fred Koll and I met over 20 years ago to play music,” Ashley fondly shares. “Two kids and several bands later, we decided to concentrate on writing original music and formed ‘The Freddy Fingers Band’.” After participating in a couple of other plays at the Louisa Arts Center, Ashley collaborated with Eleanor Perkinson, Theater Manager, and Karen Welch, Executive Director of LAC, and the idea to set many of their original songs to a story gave birth to the musical! Ashley started working on the script in the summer of 2024, together with Koll and Jack Bennett, the other member of the Freddie Fingers Band, and with the help of local support, they were able to deliver the musical to the stage a year later.

On opening night, an emotional Ashley humbly announced the creation we were about to watch, emphasizing that these were brand new characters that the cast had to invent from scratch. Whereas actors playing classic roles in productions that have been interpreted for many years have the luxury of insight to research those other performances, these actors had the challenge of channeling their roles with no basis for comparison. “We are also paying the actors, so that they can qualify for credentials to continue to get paid in the acting world,” Ashley explains.

So, what is the goal for the future of Chick’s Diner as well as other original plays never before seen on stage? “Who knows?! Maybe take Chick’s Diner to regional theaters or even Broadway,” Ashley hopes. “A Chick can Dream!” In addition, a portion of the monies from the show will go to start a fund that will allow the Louisa Arts Center to continue to have original plays and musicals at the LAC in the future.

The Freddy Fingers Band can be seen on local stages and at venues such as: Vito’s, Callie Opie’s, Obrigado’s and Log Home Brewing Company. So, if you missed the show, be sure to at least check out the musical stylings and original songs performed by the Freddie Fingers Band at an upcoming event! This year, Log Home Brewing was pleased to present the first annual “Home Grown Festival,” which will continue as an annual event to feature local talent.

Tiffany Hazelwood

Tiffany Hazelwood has a degree in Journalism from the University of Richmond is a full-time Real Estate Broker with Lake Homes Realty, a lake-focused real estate firm, where she serves as the Anchor Agent for the Lake Anna market. She has been a licensed realtor since 2008 and has been specializing in real estate here at the lake since 2016. She has enjoyed writing the real estate section for the Lake Anna Breeze™ since 2019. In her spare time, Tiffany enjoys jet-skiing and boating on the lake, traveling with her husband, Tom, and time with their dogs.