THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL Musical in 2 acts: Music and lyrics, David Nehls, book by Betsy Kelso Dodger Stages Theatre 1, Off-Broadway; First preview: August 20, 2005; Opening Night: September 27, 2005; Closed December 4, 2005: (121 performances) SYNOPSIS A country-rock and blues musical about agoraphobia, adultery, '80s nostalgia, spray cheese, road kill, hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, kleptomania, strippers, flan, and disco, The Great American Trailer Park Musical centers around regular guy Norbert and his agoraphobic wife, Jeannie, whose marriage is threatened by Armadillo Acres' newcomer, the hot young stripper Pippi. The trailer park also plays home to a Greek-chorus-like trio of women Linoleum, Betty and Pickles, each dysfunctional in her own right. In present-day North Florida, in a town called Starke, in a trailer park called "Armadillo Acres" (though there are few armadillos and even fewer acres), Betty, Lin and Pickles sun themselves with complete indifference to ozone depletion. Ever hospitable, they set aside their large sun reflectors to welcome the audience, the "fourth wall" clearly not their style. Established now as our bottle-blonde narrators, "The Girls" also introduce Jeannie Garstecki, agoraphobic and unable to step outside her trailer, much to the exasperation of her toll-collector husband Norbert. Just another day; nothin' new, except for Pippi, a stripper-on-the-lam who teeters in on five-inch heels. Once Armadillo Acres' newest tenant settles in, The Girls take us back to 1983, when Jeannie first met Norbert. From courtship to shotgun wedding to a really bad perm that distracted them long enough for their baby to get kidnapped - thus triggering Jeannie's 20-year stint indoors. Twenty years later, with a milestone anniversary just one month away, Norbert is fed up with his wife's condition and heads out for a beer. He winds up at "The Litter Box Show Palace," the local strip club set up by The Girls, who now play "Men" cloaked in flannel and mullets. Not shy about being the new girl in town, Pippi slickly works the room because, after a string of dead-end cities and no-good men, The Buck Stops Here. But Pippi makes more than tips that night - she makes a friend in Norbert Garstecki who, just like she, is tired of collecting dollar bill after dollar bill (he in his toll booth; she in her thong). Sparks fly and it doesn't take a genius to see those sparks will ignite a hot affair behind Jeannie's back, who is now determined to get out of her trailer in time for her anniversary. Three weeks later - with one week to go - she's made it to the bottom of her steps. Though delighted by this progress, Norbert has unexpectedly developed feelings for Pippi. In separate corners, he and Jeannie contemplate where they've been and where they're headed; Jeannie, fuelled by optimism; Norbert consumed by guilt. It turns out that Pippi has stirred up trouble elsewhere back in Oklahoma City, she had done a moonlight flit, middle-of-the night-no-phone-no-forwarding-address style from her magic-marker-sniffing ex-boyfriend Duke, who is hot on the prowl to find her. He pays a visit to Pippi's friend Tina who works at the mall in a place called "Stand by Your Flan." Life imitates art with Pickles playing the dim-witted, but well-meaning cashier. Confused and unable to calm Duke with a cup of custard, she lets on that Pippi's in Starke with a new boyfriend. Duke waves a gun maniacally and he's off to find his woman. Back at Armadillo Acres, Jeannie ventures out further - this time covering just enough astro turf to catch Norbert and Pippi doing you-know-what behind Pippi's trailer. Shattered, she runs back inside and passes out. Her oxygen-deprived brain assimilates the awful truth in a nightmare à la Sally-Jesse-meets-JerrySpringer-meets-reality. When she awakens, all she has to show for getting out of her trailer is a broken heart.
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