Cornwell’s Professional Dinner Theatre’s production of The Great American Trailer Park Musical (by Betsy Kelso and David Nehls) actually makes living in Florida look kinda fun. And with affordable home insurance. Not that the Armadillo Acres Trailer Park is the next Garden of Eden (though plastic pink flamingos do live with humans in divine harmony. And maybe the stripper pole could stand in as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Naughty.). The people of this rusty garden spot are definitely living down south of Eden, facing all sorts of soap operatic tribulations.
Norbert and Jeannie’s planned 20th anniversary “Ice-Skapades” celebration is jeopardized by Jeannie’s debilitating agoraphobia and Norbert’s infidelities with Pippi (the new girl next door/stripper next trailer), while Pippi’s crazy, dangerous, Magic Marker-inhaling ex-boyfriend Duke is about to track her down. Our three narrators have their own challenges – Linoleum (named after the sort of kitchen flooring she was born on) has to keep the town’s grid out of whack so the electric chair waiting for her husband stays on the fritz. Pickles (nicknamed after her favorite food of late) is the ditzy newlywed 17-year-old desperate to finally be a mother, facing a possible state of perpetual hysterical pregnancy. And the park’s leasing office manager Betty has another full-time gig trying to keep up on every juicy bite of park gossip – both for sheer entertainment value, and to keep safe her found family at Armadillo Acres.
The cast at Cornwell’s is a highly talented and hilarious bunch brought in to Marshall from near and far. Natasha Ricketts as Betty leads them with a personality bigger than Jacksonville and vocals that’ll knock you flat on your rusty can. Darby Donna Johnson as Lin(oleum) has the voltage to light up the town of Starke brighter than a hot pink aluminum Christmas tree. And although Pickles might not have the smarts of a plastic pink flamingo’s backside, Madison Wiley’s lovable performance is filled with physical and vocal comedy as sharp as a prison shiv cut from a stripper pole, and her additional shift as a clueless flan-barista is a riot.
Michaela McGarel is Jeannie – a splendid mix of gentle, vulnerable, and scared that morphs into brave, hurt, and really pissed. The pissed part is aimed at her cheating Norbert, with Aaron Ford so good as her emotionally drained but supportive and loyal husband. Well...loyal except when he’s not (Norbert goin' hound dog when opportunity lands in his lap). That opportunity being Pippi, with Rachel Nesbitt rocking the stripper role and hitting the right notes as she struggles with the tough hands she’s been dealt. The latest bad hand being abusive, obsessive, and way dumb ex-boyfriend Duke played by Jack Preston deftly keeping the creepy funny.
Great music, vocals, and comedy. Delicious turkey dinner. Clever, fun choreography and direction by Dennis J. Clark with an eye for detail. Good trashy and glitzy costumes by Marley Boone. Props to Josie Parish’s props and Sky Aguilar’s rusty, rundown trailer park. And raves for this entire cast who seem as welded together as a baked Pop-Tarts & Cheez Whiz sandwich. Through all the outrageous zaniness, you come away feeling there’s as much love in the imperfect found family of Armadillo Acres as there was on Walton’s Mountain. And maybe a bit more sex. Congrats to the team at Cornwell’s who knocked this one up…and out of the park.
Pickles: Madison Wiley - https://www.madison-wiley.com/
Pippi: Rachel Nesbitt
Jeannie: Michaela McGarel
Norbert: Aaron Ford
Duke: Jack Preston - https://jackissler.com/
Male Swing: Cameron Schott
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