REVIEW: 'The Great American Trailer Park Musical' at Street Theatre Company

Holy crap, y'all! The Great American Trailer Park Musical is so f***ing fun - and the fine folks at Street Theatre Company give such great performances - that you just cannot miss it. Seriously. So why am I borderline pissed off about my experience? Sightlines are horrible and the acoustics suck. There, I said it, I feel better and I'm still laughing about the wonderful performances, the terrific songs and the hilarious lyrics (well, at least the ones I could clearly understand).

Created by Jean Doumanian, Jeffrey Richards and Rick Steiner ("in association with Janet Pailet," according to the program), The Great American Trailer Park Musical is about all the rednecks, hicks and white trash you've ever met - well, if you know anybody from the aforementioned groups - and the whole set-up is beyond hilarious and so inspired by the tasteless that you simply cannot go and not enjoy yourself. Unless, of course, you hope to hear every word and see every bit of onstage business.

Director Larry Tobias has done a terrific job of assembling a perfect cast and putting them through their wonderfully histrionic paces (and it's a well-paced affair indeed) and kudos to him and the Street Theatre Company powers-that-be who made the clever and imaginative decision to recreate a trailer park inside an Elm Hill Pike warehouse, which is at once the ideal setting and the production's weakest element. Sure, it looks great and the set (credited to Amber Wallace) looks even better as it accurately recreates the Armadillo Acres Trailer Park of Stark, Florida, in Nashville, Tennessee. You just know that Armadillo Acres is but one strong thunderstorm or one puny tornado away from complete annihilation.

Unfortunately, the space's acoustics are so freaking (I'm growing calmer as I write) bad that some of the best lyrics and one-liners are probably still up among the rafters, duking it out for pre-eminence. The great band, featuring music director Ben Van Diepen and his players (Matt Griffith, Jonathon Hart Price and Anthony Matula), sometimes completely overwhlems the voices. I'm not gonna call you out, sound designer J.J. Street, because I think the venue is to blame; but you're on notice, buddy!

Now, all those complaints outta the way, I still had a freaking good time and laughed out loud so much that I think the people around me suspect I'd been huffing me some Pam before I got there!

The plot is completely nonsensical and, therefore, completely believable - if you have any rednecks, hicks or white trash in your background (as I do) - and it is so overwhelmingly, though pleasantly, over-the-top, that it's just too much fun for one visit. In fact, I think the show could develop its own cult following given the opportunity.

Tobias' fluid direction of his delectable cast of white trash portrayers is perfectly realized and there is not a false note to be found among them, although I suspect there are more than an couple of Yankees assaying the Southern roles (yeah, I'm pointing at you Cathy Sanborn Street, Cori Laemmel and Laura Matula). Frankly, y'all, they are all freaking - nay, f***ing - fantastic.

The music they are given to sing may be a bit derivative and what you might expect, it's still written with affection for the characters and an honest-to-God respect for time and place (and musical theatre, for Christ's sake) that you cannot help but find yourself humming along. If only every wannabe Broadway musical could have such a lineage.

Tobias' direction - along with Van Diepen's polished musical direction; Gabrielle Saliba's kicky choreography; Street's sound wizardry; Wallace's expertly rendered trailer park set; Steven Steele's imaginative lighting design; and Abby Waddoups' colorful, character-driven costume design - gives this production an exceptionally strong technical underpinning.

Here's the show's set-up: The denizens of Armadillo Acres (Lin, Betty and Pickles) are re-telling the story of a love triangle featuring Norbert, Jeannie and Pippi (oh yeah, Pippi's spurned ex-lover Duke is making his way from Oklahoma) and how the impact of the affair brought even more soap opera/talk show drama to the property. The whole plot is so elaborately off-kilter that it's positively wonderful to watch and the cast performs with such reckless abandon that you can't help but cheer them on.

While Tobias' seven cast members give exceptional performances, acting-wise, they are perhaps more impressive when they are singing: hell, sign 'em all to longterm contracts. Ain't this Music City or what? The cast exemplifies what we've known all along about musicals in Nashville: With the wealth of musical talent in this city, you'd be hard-pressed to find any musical theatre offering that doesn't at least sound freakin' fantastic.

Laura Matula (as Lin, short for "Linoleum," since her mama gave birth to her on the kitchen floor), Jama Bowen (as Betty, the leasing agent for Armadillo Acres) and Cori Laemmel (as "Pickles," so-named because of her history of hysterical pregnancies) serve as cruise directors/Greek chorus, expertly guiding audiences through the convoluted plotlines. They are wonderful as the supremely funny trio; hell, I'd drink their bathwater.

The supremely talented Nathan Fleming is Norbert, the hapless Florida toll road collector, whose marriage is in trouble thanks to his dalliance with the new stripper on the block. Fleming gives a performance that is understated and actually kinda thoughtful and sweet. (Hell, I'd drink his bathwater, too!) Joe Robinson gives a wonderfully skewed performance as Duke, the permanent marker sniffing ex-boyfriend of the stripper whose arrival in Stark turns things darker and more menacing (but in a good way). Duke's arrival helps wrap up some of the plot's loose ends, and while it may be somewhat expected (hell, I passed that plot device on Elm Hill Pike as I made my way to the theatre), the denouement is delivered in completely hilarious fashion.

And I'm just in love with Cathy Sanborn Street, as Norbert's agoraphobic wife Jeannie, whose performance is twisted and daft, yet very sensitive and heartfelt. I'd watch her do anything onstage.

But I'm saving my biggest praise for Jennifer Landes-Vann who plays Pippi with heart and soul - and a big ol' helping of sex appeal. She has an extraordinary voice, which she uses to great effect (despite the piss-poor acoustics) and doles out some of the evening's pithiest wisdom: "Sniffin' is just a gateway to huffin'..."; "Strippin' is like an all-you-can-eat waffle bar; you just have to know when to walk away"; and my new words to live by: "I'm gonna be like a nail and press on..." Sure, Pippi's the venerable stripper with a heart of gold, but Landes-Vann plays her so genuinely that you can't help but love her.

So, in conclusion, I guess I'd give this one a big ol' thumbs-up, y'all. Hell, I may have to go see it again just to see what I missed the first time.

- The Great American Trailer Park Musical. By Jean Doumanian, Jeffrey Richards and Rick Steiner. Directed by Larry Tobias. Musical direction by Ben Van Diepen. Choreography by Gabrielle Saliba. Presented by Street Theatre Company at 1031 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville. Through November 29. Visit the company website at www.streettheatrecompany.org for ticket information.

photo of Nathan Fleming and Jennifer Landes-Vann by Hatcher & Fell Photography