"The Great American Trailer Park Musical"

Theatre review
"The Great American Trailer Park Musical" for Cortland Repertory Theatre
The Ithaca Journal
August 29, 2007
722 words

"CRT's ‘Trailer Park Musical' offers brash fun"

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CRT's ‘Trailer Park Musical' offers brash fun
By Mark Tedeschi
Special to The Journal

With a title like “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” you might expect Cortland Repertory Theatre's sixth and final production of the year to be full of shameless stereotypes, offbeat satire and borderline offensive characters delivering a borderline tasteless story.

You'd be right on all counts — but none will stop you from thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.

Nearly as tender as it is funny, “Trailer Park Musical” (directed and choreographed by Bert Bernardi, now in his third CRT season) treads on ground yet unseen in this season's lineup, and the zany, brash spectacle is a fantastic way to close the season.

David Nehls (music and lyrics) and Betsy Kelso (book) wrote “Trailer Park Musical,” which first played at the New York Music Theatre Festival in 2004 and ran Off-Broadway in 2005. Three women narrate the story: Betty (Doreen Barnard), the remarkably versatile leader of the trio; Linoleum or “Lin” (Erica Livingston), the uncouth jokester named for the surface on which she was born; and Pickles (Caitlin Maloney), the dense young woman who always thinks she's pregnant and brags about dating a cosmopolite — “He likes foreign beers and cheese that smells like urine!”

The show is filled with lines like that one; surprisingly, the biggest laughs come from jokes involving vulgarity, and the actors' fearless delivery of what would normally be considered rude is what makes the dialogue so amusing.

“This Side of the Tracks,” the catchy opening number of a show filled with radiant music (Ethan Deppe, music director) sets the scene: Armadillo Acres, a trailer park in Starke, Fla., where, as Lin laments, “You'd trade your left tit for a dip in the pool.” Norbert (Scott Wakefield), a gentle toll collector, tries to convince his agoraphobic wife Jeannie (Katherine Proctor) to step outside of their home by the time they reach their impending 20th anniversary.

Norbert soon finds himself at a strip club, where his new, sultry neighbor, Pippi (Amy Halldin) puts on a show (“The Buck Stops Here”). He inadvertently charms her, and the narrators sing that “It Doesn't Take a Genius” to figure out what happens next: Norbert falls for the vivacious stripper as his unaware wife tries to overcome her fear. Act One closes with the epic, hilarious number, “Storm's A-Brewin',” featuring madcap choreography, shiny costumes (Jimmy Johansmeyer, costume designer), and a disco ball (John Horan, lighting designer).

The second act is shorter, but even more vibrant than the first. “Roadkill” follows Duke (Andy Moss), Pippi's crazy, magic-marker-sniffing ex-boyfriend, from Oklahoma City to Starke. He confronts her, Jeannie confronts Norbert, and in the moving climax, all must “make like a nail and press on.”

Four talented musicians (Ethan Deppe, Dillon Kondor, Shannon Cockbill and Matt Pond) provide instrumentation for the musical numbers. “The Great American TV Show,” a tribute to the tacky Sally/Jenny/Ricki-esque morning talk shows, particularly showcases theirs and the singers' musicianship.

At a few brief moments, the jokes abrade, but not because they offend; there's a bit about flan that goes on too long and an obligatory Britney Spears potshot (come on, she's too easy a target). But that's to say nothing of the performances, which are all airtight. Accents have been consistently well-executed in CRT shows this summer, but the intense, spot-on drawl the actors put on in “Trailer Park Musical” stands out, especially during songs (credit for crispness also goes to Don Tindall's sound design).

The clever look of the show is due in large part to Jo Winiarski's set design, which is filled with crafty props: flowerpots made of tires, an old Chevy grille, Christmas lights, cinder blocks, milk crates and a tiny pink flamingo — possibly a subtle nod to John Waters and the memorable steps he took toward glorifying, in a hyperbolically caricatured way, trailer park lifestyle.

It's that sort of depiction I was initially afraid could make for shaky subject matter, but after “Trailer Park Musical” immediately and humorously addresses the stereotypes, I realized my worry was unwarranted. The characters are content with their lives and not afraid to joke about outsiders' misconceptions.

At its heart, “Trailer Park Musical” is a story about finding happiness in unlikely places; on the surface, it's a comedy highlighting the coarse lifestyle found only in locales like Armadillo Acres.

That solid combination definitely makes CRT's last show worth seeing.

“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” runs at CRT through Saturday. Visit www.cortlandrep.org or call (800) 427-6160 for more information.