Photos by Bureau Detroit<\/em><\/p>\n N’Jeri Nicholson (center)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s 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\u2019s a first time for everything. To kick off their 68th<\/sup> season, \u201cThe Great American Trailer Park Musical\u201d at Stagecrafters is one rockabilly-rowdy, enjoyable show.<\/p>\n \u201cTrailer Park\u201d 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<\/strong>, and the book is by Los Angeles comedy writer Betsy Kelso<\/strong>, known for her irreverent spoofs and risqu\u00e9 humor.<\/p>\n As the curtain rises, we find ourselves in a north Florida trailer park called Armadillo Acres, where the park\u2019s 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\u2019t left her trailer in 20 years. And now it seems like Jeannie\u2019s husband Norbert has taken to canoodling with the new gal in town, a stripper named Pippi.\u00a0 When Pippi\u2019s slightly crazed roadkill-obsessed boyfriend Duke shows up with an impressive supply of magic markers, you don\u2019t need much imagination to guess what happens next. This is part of the show\u2019s lowbrow charm.<\/p>\n “Trailer Park\u201d aims for non-stop laughs and relentless, high energy music, very much in the spirit of \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show\u201d. The characters could have stepped right out of a comic book. Sure, they\u2019re crude and vulgar, and maybe they play on broad trailer-trash stereotypes, but they\u2019re 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 <\/strong>and Jessica York<\/strong>). But these are mere accessories. What really makes this show is the excellent vocal performances.<\/p>\n (from left) Killian Elhaz, Alexa Carollo, Kirsten Renas, Aaliyah Flint<\/p><\/div>\n Betty, played by local music teacher and performer Kirsten Renas<\/strong>, captures your heart with her wonderful voice and unfailing concern for her neighbors. Also noteworthy is Alexa Carollo <\/strong>as Lin (short for Linoleum!), the park\u2019s resident bad girl whose bad boy hubby is on death row. Aaliya Flint<\/strong> (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\u2019s their three-part harmonies that really get the joint a-jumpin\u2019.<\/p>\n Erica Fell <\/strong>is the neurotic Jeannie, who just can\u2019t 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\u2019s 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Jeannie\u2019s nemesis is Pippi, the sleazy but fiercely proud stripper who moves into the trailer next to theirs, played by N\u2019Jeri Nicholson<\/strong>, veteran of the Baldwin stage. It\u2019s not long before Pippi\u2019s loony boyfriend Duke, played by theatre and film-trained actor Killian Elhaz<\/strong>, comes a-lookin\u2019 for his woman. His performance provides the veritable icing on the cake.<\/p>\n The ensemble cast, accompanied by a four-piece band directed by Christopher Smith, <\/strong>is especially memorable in numbers like \u201cFlushed Down the Pipes\u201d featuring the ladies twirling toilet brushes and plungers, the pulse-pounding disco beat of \u201cStorms A-Brewin\u201d, and the rousing Finale. There is also a lovely duet, \u201cOwner of My Heart\u201d performed by Jeannie and Norbert. The ingenious set, including those little travel-type trailers, is the creation of set designer Gene Czewski<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Pippi-and-Cast.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cThe Great American Trailer Park Musical\u201d Promises a Cheeky, Raunchy Good Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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