Reviewed by Suzanne Angeo (member, American Theatre Critics Association; Member Emeritus, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle), and Greg Angeo (Member Emeritus, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle)
Photos by Bureau Detroit
N’Jeri Nicholson (center)
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” Promises a Cheeky, Raunchy Good Time
It’s safe to say that Stagecrafters has never featured pole dancers, roadkill, agoraphobia, false pregnancies and guys sniffing magic markers all on the same stage before. Well, there’s a first time for everything. To kick off their 68th season, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” at Stagecrafters is one rockabilly-rowdy, enjoyable show.
“Trailer Park” premiered off-Broadway in September 2005, and has seen sold-out shows in regional performances all over the country ever since. Music and lyrics are by David Nehls, and the book is by Los Angeles comedy writer Betsy Kelso, known for her irreverent spoofs and risqué humor.
As the curtain rises, we find ourselves in a north Florida trailer park called Armadillo Acres, where the park’s little travel-type trailers (minus the wheels) are just like the residents: really very cute, but slightly smudged and dilapidated, bravely scraping the bottom of the barrel of life. Park manager Betty, and her cohorts Lin and Pickles, worry about their neighbor Jeannie, who hasn’t left her trailer in 20 years. And now it seems like Jeannie’s husband Norbert has taken to canoodling with the new gal in town, a stripper named Pippi. When Pippi’s slightly crazed roadkill-obsessed boyfriend Duke shows up with an impressive supply of magic markers, you don’t need much imagination to guess what happens next. This is part of the show’s lowbrow charm.
“Trailer Park” aims for non-stop laughs and relentless, high energy music, very much in the spirit of “The Rocky Horror Show”. The characters could have stepped right out of a comic book. Sure, they’re crude and vulgar, and maybe they play on broad trailer-trash stereotypes, but they’re likeable. And the ladies are nearly matched in tawdriness by their cheap-chic clothes and over-the-top hairstyles (all tributes to the talents of costume and wig designers Michelle Miller, Ari Holland and Jessica York). But these are mere accessories. What really makes this show is the excellent vocal performances.
(from left) Killian Elhaz, Alexa Carollo, Kirsten Renas, Aaliyah Flint
Betty, played by local music teacher and performer Kirsten Renas, captures your heart with her wonderful voice and unfailing concern for her neighbors. Also noteworthy is Alexa Carollo as Lin (short for Linoleum!), the park’s resident bad girl whose bad boy hubby is on death row. Aaliya Flint (a Stagecrafters newbie) plays the charmingly goofy teenager Pickles. After using a pillow to fake her pregnancy, she produces a big surprise for everybody at the end of the show. Each of these ladies delivers great individual vocals, but it’s their three-part harmonies that really get the joint a-jumpin’.
Erica Fell is the neurotic Jeannie, who just can’t make herself leave her dingy trailer ever since her baby boy was kidnapped 20 years ago. Her character is less one-dimensional than the others, one you can identify with. She’s sympathetic and real, and serves as the pivot point around which the other characters revolve. Her two-timing buffoon of a husband Norbert is played by Off-Broadway and TV veteran Bran Depetris.
Jeannie’s nemesis is Pippi, the sleazy but fiercely proud stripper who moves into the trailer next to theirs, played by N’Jeri Nicholson, veteran of the Baldwin stage. It’s not long before Pippi’s loony boyfriend Duke, played by theatre and film-trained actor Killian Elhaz, comes a-lookin’ for his woman. His performance provides the veritable icing on the cake.
The ensemble cast, accompanied by a four-piece band directed by Christopher Smith, is especially memorable in numbers like “Flushed Down the Pipes” featuring the ladies twirling toilet brushes and plungers, the pulse-pounding disco beat of “Storms A-Brewin”, and the rousing Finale. There is also a lovely duet, “Owner of My Heart” performed by Jeannie and Norbert. The ingenious set, including those little travel-type trailers, is the creation of set designer Gene Czewski.
Brian Depetris, Erika Fell
Says first-time director Kathryn Stewart: “Please take into consideration that while the stereotypes in the show are painted with a very broad brush, it is done with a kind heart…where everyone is included…”. There are no pauses between scenes (except for intermission) but even so, the pacing seems to lack a certain urgency and energy needed for such a show. And the set might be scaled back a little to allow more room, since there are 12 folks moving about onstage (including not only the cast but the “Onstage Crew”, which also takes part in the performance). Acting and stage technique could use some further development, but Stewart allows ample opportunity for the cast and crew to break the Fourth Wall and mingle with the audience, so you really feel a part of the story, and the fun.
Brassy, sassy “Trailer Park” is what musical theatre is all about – pure escapism. You think you got troubles? Nothing compares with the back-breakin’, heart-achin’ comic strivings of these zany folks. But be forewarned – the characters are colorful, and so is the language, with F-bombs galore. You may want to leave the kiddies at home.
Adult themes and language – not recommended for young children
Now through November 19, 2023
Tickets $35; $25 on Thursdays ($3 ticket fee for all tickets purchased online, by phone or at the door)
Stagecrafters at the Baldwin Theatre, Main Stage
415 S. Lafayette
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(248) 541-6430
Stagecrafters is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization with support from: Michigan Arts & Culture Council; National Endowment for the Arts; Royal Oak Arts Council; Oakland County; Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority; and DTE Foundation