“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” is a riotously good time that’ll make you yearn for a place where the only things higher than the drama are the booze-swilling, marker-sniffers who live there.
This “Trailer Park” isn’t some elitist smackdown of the have-nots by the haves. In fact, the SpeakEasy’s latest is more of a celebration of the indomitable spirit of a culture than a condemnation of its lifestyle.
Armadillo Park does have its share of pink flamingos, salacious scandals and folks who think the Ice Capades is highbrow entertainment. And the ladies who sit outside sunning do have that certain something one tends to equate with trailer parkers.
But they also have heart and humor, which an extremely talented ensemble deliver in a delightful production brimming with bawdy, tongue-in-cheek fun and a happy ending that includes an out-of-wedlock birth, an execution and a seemingly impossible family reunion.
Leigh Barrett, Mary Callanan and Kerry Dowling deliver the kind of solid comic and vocal performances that have made them critical and fan faves. Broadway vet David Benoit also shines as the resident nice guy gone awry. But it’s newcomers Caitlin Crosbie Doonan and Santina Umbach who steal the show. Crosbie Doonan’s stripper is sheer perfection, and Umbach, a junior at Boston Conservatory, hits every note and comic mark like an old pro in her brilliant portrayal of Pickles, the lollipop pacifier-sucking teen with a history of hysterical pregnancies.
‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’
Through May 30
BCA Calderwood Pavilion
539 Tremont St., Boston
$30-$54, 617-933-8600
