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New Castle Playhouse succeeds with musical farce
By Lorraine Wardle
NEW CASTLE, PA.
It’s not often that community theaters take a chance when choosing their productions. Most stick to the tried-and-true, family-friendly musicals and plays with the titles everyone recognizes. (Which isn’t always a bad thing; those shows are favorites for a reason.) But sometimes it pays to take a risk, as the New Castle Playhouse has proved with its latest production, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.”
With a name such as “Trailer Park Musical,” you can expect a certain amount of humor and sarcasm. And this play by Betsy Kelso and David Nehls is exactly what you’d expect and so much more.
Sure, it’s outrageous, crude and perpetuates stereotypes. But it does so in such a self-aware and loving way that the audience can’t help but embrace every character.
As the show begins, we are invited into Armadillo Acres, a trailer park in Starke, Fla. We meet Betty, Lin and Pickles, who serve as a kind of Greek Chorus and narrate the play.
Betty, a widow, owns the trailer park. Lin’s husband is on death row, and Pickles suffers from hysterical pregnancies.
They live a relatively peaceful existence along with neighbors Norbert Garstecki, a toll-booth worker, and his wife, Jeannie, who is agoraphobic. Then Pippi, a stripper on the run, moves in and, of course, things get hairy.
How can a musical set in a trailer park take itself seriously? It can’t, and that’s the beauty of it. Director Paula R. Ferguson and her cast obviously know exactly what they’re doing.
Though their performances are entirely sincere, they know how to play for laughs. Rarely have I seen an opening weekend performance with such perfect pace and comic timing.
Every member of Ferguson’s cast is extremely talented. As long-suffering Norbert, Anthony Geramita was sweet and subdued with a strong, sincere singing voice. Janis Sylves, as Jeannie, grew from a frail, fearful housewife to an independent woman whose singing was passionate and sensitive.
Playing Pippi, Molly Makselan was a powerhouse. Her stage presence captured the audience’s attention, and her powerful voice filled the theater.
As Betty, Lin and Pickles, Tina Greig, Connie Rodgers and Bridget Yurcisin created a trio of sassy, street-smart (or is it trailer-smart?) women.
Their on-stage bantering was hilarious, and their harmonizing was impressive. Completing the cast was Zack Varrati, as Duke, who was simply crazy.
The great thing about “The Trailer Park Musical” is the balance it maintains between silly and serious musical theater. Every song is amazing. Though the lyrics are witty and tongue-in-cheek, the music is complex and full, sounding like a “real musical.” It’s not easy to succeed at musical farce, but Ferguson and the cast really pull it off.
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” at the New Castle Playhouse continues Friday and Saturday and Oct. 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. and next Sunday and Oct.31 at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 724-654-3437.