'The Great American Trailer Park Musical'

The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Music and Lyrics by David Nehls, Book by Betsy Kelso; Paul Daigneault, Director; Nicholas Connell, Music Director; David Connolly, Choreographer; Jenna McFarland Lord, Scenic Design; Seth Bodie, Costume Design; Karen Perlow, Lighting Design; Aaron Mack, Sound Design; Katie Ailinger, Production Stage Manager

CAST: Leigh Barrett (Jeannie Garstecki), David Benoit (Norbert Garstecki), Mary Callanan (Lin), Caitlin Crosbie Doonan (Piper), Kerry A. Dowling (Betty), Grant MacDermott (Duke), and Santina Umbach (Pickles)

Performances through May 30 at SpeakEasy Stage Company, Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts; Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.BostonTheatreScene.com

Life is anything but dull at Armadillo Acres, a trailer park in Starke, Florida, where the neighbors include an agoraphobic housewife and her cheating husband, an exotic dancer on the run from her indelible marker-sniffing abusive boyfriend, and a young woman nicknamed "Pickles" because she is prone to hysterical pregnancies. Betty, the manager of the "manufactured housing community," buried her late husband behind Jeannie's trailer, and Lin spends her time encouraging massive use of electrical power in the park so the nearby state prison won't have enough juice to execute her husband Earl who languishes on death row. And you think you've got problems?

You might not want to live there, but in The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Armadillo Acres is a gloriously entertaining place to spend a couple of hours, thanks to a fun-filled book, eclectic music and clever lyrics, and a top notch production under the direction of SpeakEasy Stage Artistic Director Paul Daigneault. Jenna McFarland Lord's set draws you right into the world these quirky people inhabit, replete with pink plastic flamingos, palm trees, garden gnome, satellite dish, and cutesy roadside mailboxes in the shape of animals. Seth Bodie creates an appropriate park uniform for each of the residents. He dresses Betty, Lin, and Pickles, the "girls" of the Greek chorus, in denim shorts and décolleté tops; Piper, the stripper, in the skimpiest of outfits; Jeannie in a variety of housecoats and oversized t-shirts; Norbert in tropical shirt, work boots, and baseball cap; and the heavily-tattooed Duke in a grimy tank top and black jeans. Karen Perlow and Aaron Mack work their magic on lighting and sound design respectively.

Having given due praise to the technical artists, let me say that the cast of TGATPM  could make this show work if they set up their folding lawn chairs under the marquee of the Calderwood Pavilion and presented it as street theater. Every individual performance is heartfelt and true, and their ensemble work is seamless. To their advantage, Leigh Barrett (Jeannie), Kerry A. Dowling (Betty), and Mary Callanan (Lin) have come of age and worked with each other on Boston stages, but this is the first time all three have been in a show together. Hopefully, it will not be the last. Although the score requires limited use of her estimable upper register, Barrett is in especially fine voice, nailing Jeannie's plaintive ballads "Owner of My Heart" and "Flushed Down the Pipes."  The trio of virtuoso voices has outstanding chemistry and timing, as one might expect from such veterans, but newcomer Santina Umbach, a junior at The Boston Conservatory, threatens to steal the limelight while matching them note for note. Maybe it is the blonde wig and her petite stature, but she could give Kristin Chenoweth a run for her money.

Piper (Caitlin Crosbie Doonan) is a sultry femme fatale who, for all her assertiveness, doesn't have very good luck with men. Doonan displays her range, capturing both the sexiness and vulnerability of this smart cookie who has been around the block more than a few times. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Norbert (David Benoit) falls for her after nearly twenty years of living in an aluminum shell with his agoraphobic wife. Yet, Benoit capably shows Norbert's internal struggle as he pursues his fantasy while emotionally tethered to Jeannie and their trailer. A Fall River native and BoCo graduate, Benoit was last seen in Boston with the National Tour of Avenue Q and adds star quality to this production. Grant MacDermott has too much fun (in a good way) with the over-the-top role of Duke, constantly ingesting fumes from a handful of markers or an aerosol can, and makes the most of his driving song "Road Kill."

Great care is taken with details such as the interior of the Garstecki's trailer, Southern accents, and the use of apropos props, including sun reflectors, beer cans, and chewing gum. The book contains many stereotypical references, but, in the hands of these actors, the characters rise above stereotype. Each has at least one endearing quality (even Duke!) to make us care about what happens to them and, even when the outcomes are entirely predictable, the scenarios are handled with such heart and humor that we don't mind. David Connolly's choreography enlivens the musical numbers, none better than the retro disco "Storm's A-Brewin" that owes a debt to The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men." Hidden away in an onstage trailer, Music Director/Keyboardist Nicholas Connell leads an awesome quartet with Nicholas Jacobson-Larson on guitar, Marty Fowler on bass, and Matthew Raskopf on drums. Country tunes, ballads, rock, and twang are all played with style and gusto.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical concludes the SpeakEasy Stage Company's regular season of comedies and musicals. On May 10 and May 11, there will be a special presentation of the New England premiere of Seth Rudetsky's Deconstructing Broadway in the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. It was recently announced that SpeakEasy will collaborate this fall with Huntington Theatre Company and Company One to produce playwright Annie Baker's first three plays set in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont (Body Awareness, October 22-November 20). In the meantime, pay a visit to Armadillo Acres. TGATPM is fun from start to finish.

 

Photo credit: Mark L. Saperstein (Leigh Barrett, Kerry A. Dowling, Mary Callanan)

 

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