By Deirdre Parker Smith

deirdre.smith@salisburypost.com

Above all, “Lunch at the Piccadilly” is just so darned cute.

The play deals with serious subjects, but with a smile and a certain light at the end of the tunnel. Paired with a cast of nice voices and stage experience, and it’s one way to brighten up the dark winter nights.

Piedmont Players bills the show as a musical play based on the novel “Lunch at the Piccadilly” by Clyde Edgerton. Mike Craver, a friend of Piedmont director Reid Leonard, wrote the music and lyrics, along with Edgerton.

The story takes place on the front porch of Rosehaven, a nursing home somewhere in North Carolina. Some of the feistier residents spend time on the porch talking, philosophizing, complaining, and, eventually, plotting and planning.

The four main characters are played by people familiar to Piedmont audiences.

John Brincefield plays L. Ray Flowers, a Pentecostal preacher and used car salesman afflicted with a bum knee that he’s getting therapy for.

Barry Dyson is Eli Grayson, who loves to try new things. He’s got a new guitar and a new smartphone. He’s always fun on stage, and this time, make sure to watch him during the rap song sequence. He’s really having fun.

Corinne Mauldin is loud and proud and only a little crazy as Clara, who complains a lot about the world but mostly about the $4,000 Walter Cronkite gave her that her son (or daughter) wasted.

The newest arrival is Lil Olive, a sweet aunt who still wants to drive and does not want to leave her home. Becky Lippard, who is sincere and powerful in her own way, embodies Lil.

Dennis Welch is her nephew Carl. They have taken care of each other for a long time. Welch is gentle and firm and has a nice voice, very likable.

Robin Rogers is Anna Rhodes, whose uncle owned Rosehaven. She’s pert and efficient and totally sympathetic to the residents. It’s the new buyer she’s not too sure of. Rosehaven is in some financial trouble because of her uncle’s generosity, but it’s that same spirit that moves her.

Whit Whitley is the snooty Dr. Ted Sears of Ballard College, which is buying Rosehaven. He plans to use the home for students to learn Christian gerontology or some such. Whitley plays Sears as an oddball, with a an exaggerated accent. Unfortunately, Sears is even odder than he seems.

Cassandra Barrier is the aid, and four residents wander in and out of the scenes — Bill Bucher, Gayla Bucher and Sandra Roakes, along with Athelene Carter, who was so good in “Steel Magnolias.” Just wait until you see her in the rap number.

The lyrics, and even the music, are “punny,” with clever wording, clever musical signatures. Steven Stringer directed Danielle Trivette and Mackenzie Roger in the small orchestra, hidden backstage.

The plot? Oh, you’ll recognize it — shady outside forces threaten to disrupt a happy, if bedraggled bunch. Here, it’s senior citizens. And those seniors are with it and willful enough to want to stop the change they see coming.

It’s the way they go about it that’s unconventional, with their idea for nurches — nursing homes combined with churches. Preposterous? Not the way they set it up. And you’ll be cheering them on.

That’s not to say there aren’t sad moments as they reflect on what they’ve lost and when the end will come. The first act sets up the problems; the second finds solutions.

The play, with one intermission, is two hours long. Performances at the Meroney Theatre are at 7:30 today through Saturday and Feb. 6-9. A 2:30 p.m. matinee is scheduled Sunday.

For tickets, call 704-633-5471 or go to www.piedmontplayers.com.