“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” turns local necks red

WHAT: “The Great American Trailer Park Musical”

WHERE: Illusion Theater, 528 Hennepin Ave.

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 19 – Sunday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m.

PRICE: Price varies

There is danger that a play with a name like “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” (TGATPM) could be nothing more than one big redneck joke. To make that even more probable, an entrance sign warning audience members of strong language (because, “after all, it is a trailer park!”) is even more of an indication that these suspicions are true. And they are, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the results aren’t enjoyable.

The plot of “TGATPM” follows a man named Norbert who leaves his agoraphobic wife for the runaway stripper that moves into the trailer across the way. When the stripper’s magic marker huffing, gun toting ex-boyfriend follows her to the trailer park from Oklahoma City, hilarity ensues.

The story is narrated by a chorus of singing and dancing trailer trash ladies who know all the inner secrets of the park. They help with the dream sequences and flashbacks, confiding in the audience what is really going on. Mostly, they are there to further garnish the set that consists of two trailers done up with pink flamingos and Christmas lights — even more delightful trashiness.

Most of the character development relies on invoking the audience’s stereotypes of white trash. The skanky hussy with tall zebra boots, the simpleton wife and husband who believe the apex of culture to be the Ice Capades, the pregnant woman with the perm — all fit their southern-accented mold. To analyze “TGATPM” too deeply would miss the point that it essentially exists as a vehicle for redneck jokes, leaving the audience members to ask themselves: “How funny are redneck jokes anyway?”

Despite its blatant intentions, “TGATPM” does tell the sweet story of a group of people bound together in the same life. Family, pride, the sting of love forsaken and contentment with living on “this side of the tracks” (as one song puts it) are all woven together.

The cast is a group of veterans to the Minneapolis Musical Theatre scene and it’s clear that they seem to be enjoying themselves playing caricatures . Their enthusiasm gives the performance plenty of fresh energy.

The most ironic thing about “TGATPM” is that the price of a ticket runs in the line of about 30-40 beers, depending on your brand , a price that will most likely keep out the people that it seeks to portray.

“TGATPM” is a play for people who have never experienced a trailer park firsthand, just like “Jerry Springer” is a show for people who have never had their daughter run away with a member of the Ku Klux Klan who turns out to be their cousin. Entertaining and endearing, but follow it promptly with a grain of salt.