by Guest Reviewer T.E. Klunzinger
This show, which opened Thursday at Over the Ledge Theatre in Grand Ledge, must count as one of the unexpected pleasures of the nascent Fall (or is it the waning Summer?) season. It is most definitely low humor with a winsome, if R-rated, charm, deftly performed by a cast of seven strong singers backed up by a four-piece band and a good sound system.
The plot, such as it is, is standard trailer-park stuff: bored middle-aged husband of an agoraphobic wife takes up with the stripper next door and commotion ensues. But the fun comes from having a “Greek chorus” of resident women to participate in, and comment on, the action.
First among equals is Charlotte Ruppert as Betty, who commands the stage whenever she’s on, which fortunately is much of the time. Adriana Flores is a perfectly pixillated, perhaps pregnant, Pickles and Kayla Henry (last seen as Tracy Turnblad in Riveralk’s “Hairspray”) is a flame-haired powerhouse in short shorts as Lin. They work well as a trio, particularly when performing director Brian Farnham’s snappy choreography.
At first. Ann Marie Foley doesn’t get much to do as trailer-bound wife Jeannine but then blossoms with a couple of power ballads later in the show, while Bob Purosky is the hapless husband Norbert who seems not to know what he really wants until things are all ****ed up.
Ellen Weise is briskly believable as stripper Pippi who moves in next door to start the action and Dale Wayne Williams is a late entry who makes an authoritative, scary redneck with a gun and a secret, in pursuit of Pippi after she’s dumped him.
The songs, though seeming all of a piece and somewhat derivative, are nevertheless packed with clever lyrics and very well performed by this high-energy septet. Somewhat surprisingly, the show actually opened in New York some 14 years ago and has had a durable life on the road since then; it should count as one of your early guilty pleasures of this theater season.
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” continues at Over the Ledge in Fitzgerald Park through September 22, with evening shows at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 2.
http://www.overtheledge.org