The Great American
Trailer Park Musical

Hilarious!  Irreverent!  Risque!  I’d like to see it again. If they haven’t cast the film yet, the task is virtually completed.

If I were a talent manager, I wouldn’t have let Ashley Wrye (Pickles) or Rianna Pellino (Pippi) out of the theater without signing long-term contracts. Wrye is impossibly adorable, with her slit eyes and perky nose, plus non-stop charisma, energy and a flair for comedy. Pellino sings up a storm and has enormous recording potential in various styles. She has a face that lends itself to various roles, and was built to be the stripper she performed so well. I’m old enough to recall exotic dancers before topless bars took away all of their teasing artistry, before women were expected to diet, when men went for “brick shipyard” women…and Pellino is the last of the type, a natural for film noir.

How can I say that Eileen P. Quinton (Lin) made a perfect slut without insulting her? That’s a real compliment in this case, Eileen. Comedy veteran Laureen Rodgers (Betty) sang well, and effectively played the manager of the trailer park.

Tony Brach as Norbert Garsetcki was the muscular, philandering husband of Kathy Hinson who played his wife, Jeannine, singing and acting exceptionally well. Jeannine’s agoraphobia confined her to home for twenty years. Although Norbert deeply loves his neurotic spouse, he can’t resist Pippi, whose arrival brings chaos, in more ways than one.

Nic Hawk, a late arrival, also complicated matters hilariously, but I shan’t spoil the plot. As Duke, he would make Jerry Lee Lewis or Jeff Foxworthy seem sophisticated. Norfolk will soon lose Nic to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, as a production singer.

The setting: three trailers—one a garish pink; another with a beer vending machine…inside!; a flamingo on one lawn; Norbert in his undershirt, his wife in housecoat and curlers; Lin reading Mobile Homes and Gardens; located near the Grits and Tits Bar.

Davis Nehls wrote the humorous lyrics and tuneful melodies for a story by Betsy Kelso. The funniest was about a Jerry Springer-ish television show.

In a balcony above the stage a trio accompanied, featuring the marvelously Ramsey Lewis-like piano stylings of Sherrod Brown.

As often occurs when the players sing in rounds, words and jokes are not heard…but that is all the more reason to see it again!

(Pictured: Lauren Rodgers and Ashley Wrye. Photo by Angela Best)

Eric Stevens
Cabaret Scenes
November 19, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org