Cabin in the Sky

Plots: A compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he’ll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife. Chronic gambler and carouser “Little” Joe Jackson is shot by Domino Johnson at Jim Henry’s gambling club over an outstanding gambling debt. Little Joe’s wife, the God-fearing Petunia Jackson, prays not only for her husband’s mortal life, but also his eternal soul as she’s afraid that if he dies now, he, despite not being an evil man, won’t make it into heaven. As Little Joe is close to death, he is visited by agents of both the Lord and of Lucifer. They make a deal with him: they will give him six months to atone for the errors of his human life. Once back on Earth, he won’t remember the deal but both the Lord and Lucifer will be watching over him, trying to get him to see things their way. As both sides try to get Little Joe’s soul, they figure that some of the most powerful tools they have at their disposal are the women in Little Joe’s life: Petunia on behalf of the Lord, and Georgia Brown, a gold-digging floozy, on behalf of Lucifer. As hard as both the Lord and Lucifer try to get Little Joe on their side, they don’t factor into the equation human judgment, which turns some of their work against them. In this musical, Little Joe, an inveterate gambler, promises his wife Petunia he’ll reform and confess his sins at church, but he slips out the side door to play craps at the Paradise club; he’s shot and brought home with a mortal wound. Petunia offers powerful prayers, and Joe gets a six-month reprieve. Heaven’s forces, led by the General, and those below, led by Lucifer Jr., try to pull Joe their way. Lucifer Jr. has a not-so-secret weapon, the sultry Georgia Brown, and his idea men cook up a great scheme to win Joe’s soul. The General has Joe’s good intentions and Petunia’s inventiveness. Will she and Joe reach their cabin in the sky?