By John Quinn

Posted: Feb. 14, 2015 at 6:45 .m.

It’s merely rubbing salt in the wound for The Snug Theatre in Marine City to feature a steamy musical set in steamy Florida in Michigan’s frigid February. But “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” is such an exuberant exercise in mindless comedy that you might leave the theater humming, “Forget your troubles, come on, be happy….”

You might be humming anything but music from the show itself, because David Nehls’ words and music are utterly forgettable and the book, by Betsy Kelso, pushes stereotype over the edge into caricature. But the combination works! This unlikely entrant in the first New York Music Theater Festival, in 2004, has staying power because it’s a lightweight. But a lot of credit for The Snug’s winning production goes to stage director Edmond Reynolds and musical director Paul Decker, both of whom have made many intelligent choices.

The time reflects the play’s birth, about ten years back. The scene is Stark, Florida’s Armadillo Acres, “North Florida’s most exclusive manufactured housing community.” The property has seen better days, and while its owner/operator, Betty (Christy Kriedler) claims (ambiguously) that they’re living on “this side of the tracks,” it’s cheek to jowl with the state penitentiary. That’s where park resident Lin (Carrie Meusling) visits her husband on Death Row while the institution waits for enough juice to power the electric chair. The babes are joined by the hysterical pregnancy-afflicted Pickles (Kelly Copley) to form, if this play were higher class, what could be described as a Greek chorus, which comments on the main storyline.

That’s the mournful tale of Jeannie (Brittany Everitt Smith) and her toll collector husband, Norbert (Mark Konwinski), who are approaching their 20th wedding anniversary. Jennie has been agoraphobic since the theft of the couple’s infant son. Not only has Norbert gone without a night on the town for years, he’s gone without sex. That’s changed by the arrival of Pipi (Wendy Krekeler), an exotic dancer on the run from an obsessed, indelible marker huffer named Duke (Jared Jarvis). The rousing first act finale is entitled “Storm’s A-Brewin'” and it’s not just a weather report.

Not to go all Discovery Channel on you, but I find that thousands of years of “civilization” haven’t cured us of tribalism. At its root, it’s “us” against “them,” and “them” tends to fall into simplistic categories; hence stereotypes. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy embraced the “redneck” in himself and satirically defused the slur. So too with “The Great American Trailer Park Musical.”

Don’t get me wrong. No one is going to confuse “Trailer Park” with Foxworthy, or even “South Park,” although the musical shares the cartoon’s irreverence and vulgarity. But director Edmond Reynolds has his cast performing with the utmost sincerity with maximum comic effect. We’re all in on the joke so nothing seems out of bounds.

Vocally, the five ladies of “Trailer Park” shine. The trio, Kreidler, Meusling, and Copley are especially adept at close harmony. Kreidler’s solos tend toward county and Meusling’s toward rockabilly; both singers firmly match the genres. Brittany Everitt Smith is saddled with a couple of colorless ballads, but adds her own touch of color. Wendy Krekeler is a belter; a term frequently used in derision, but not so here. Her songs are based in gospel/country music and a big voice in needed to sell a lyric like “Make like a nail and press on.”

As for the guys? Betsy Kelso created a couple of real sad-sack characters (just like a woman, right?) So it’s no aspersion to say that Konwinski and Jarvis embrace the stereotypes and run away with them.

Paul Decker on piano heads a quartet whose other members deserve individual mention. They would be David Swain on lead guitar, Andrew Lloyd on bass and Rob Emanuel on drums. Because of space considerations at The Snug, the combo is actually in the lobby with a line of sight to the stage. The balance between voice and instrument is a wonder, and the group can make even the most pedestrian musical line sound like that old time rock and roll.

SHOW DETAILS:
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical”
The Snug Theatre
160 S. Water Street, Marine City, MI 48039
7 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday Feb. 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21
3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, 15, 22
2 hours (including one 20 minute intermission)
$20
810-278-1749
www.riverbanktheatre.com