First
presented at the 2004 New York Musical Theater Festival, The GreatAmerican Trailer Park Musical is a country-rock and blues musical
about the lives and loves of a trailer park community. For a great taster of the
show, check out Michael Dale's terrific Broadway
World.com REVIEW
of the 2004 production.
"The story of Pippi,
a new tenant (and runaway stripper) at Armadillo Acres, Florida's most
exclusive trailer park.
Her arrival wreaks havoc on the unhappy marriage
of the agoraphobic Jeannie and her tollbooth collector husband,
Norbert."
14 track CD available ~ see Media
page for Audio clips and CD details
1.
This Side Of The Tracks
2. One Step Closer
3. The Buck Stops Here
4. It Doesn't Take A Genius
5. Owner Of My Heart
6. The Great American TV Show
7. Flushed Down The Pipes
8.
Storm's A-Brewin'
9. Road Kill
10. But He's Mine / It's Never Easy
11. That's Why I Love My Man
12. Panic
13. Finale
14. This Side Of The Tracks reprise
Shuler with his Dad, Sam, and fellow
cast members
Linda Hart, Wayne Wilcox and Orfeh
help build new homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina
on NBC's Today Show, 29 Sept 2005 (photo : Shuler's own - larger
version in Gallery)
"Being from the South and having
relatives from South Georgia, which is very close to Northern Florida, it
was one of those things where I was like, "I know these people!"
And, I thought it would be nice to do a comedy as opposed to the serious,
psycho-killer roles that I usually end up doing. It's just been fantastic.
It's a small cast, and it's a real ensemble group. It's fun every night
because it's comedy that everyone can relate to."
Playbill
feature - The Great
American Trailer Park Musical Shows Upward Mobility for Cast and
Creators :
Hensley is relishing in
his newfound role. "I'm cast so much as the villains and stuff.
Norbert is the everyman who gets caught in a guy's dream situation - two
women fighting over him - but it quickly turns into a nightmare."
Another selling point for the Oklahoma! Tony winner was the familiar
territory. "It's set in the South where I was born and raised and
has the country western rock music that I grew up with." Hensley
said he was excited to work on another new type of show which he
described as "part De La Guarda, part regular musical
theatre." Even more enthused by the prospect of his role in Tarzan
were his children. "We went to the Atlanta zoo and my five year old
girl, Skyler, saw the gorilla cage and said 'Look, there you are daddy!"
TheaterMania
feature - Trailer Talk : The Great American Trailer Park Musical's
three stars get into character :
"I'm from Georgia,
so I've had 35 years of training for this role," says Hensley with
a hearty laugh. "I can actually guarantee full houses for this show
for weeks with just my relatives!" On a more serious note, Hensley
feels he's been given a really great character to play: "I like the
fact that it's not clear cut that Norbert is the bad guy, which is how I
usually get cast. And my wife is thrilled that I don't die or kill
anyone in this show!"
Poughkeepsie
Journal feature - 'Trailer Park' is a raucous romp :
Back in early August, I
was invited to preview songs and interview performers who were going
to appear in the upcoming "The Great American Trailer Park
Musical" and I decided to go for three reasons: the title sounded
like it could be a lot of fun; it was to open at Dodger Stages and the
owners of this off-Broadway, multi-stage complex have proven they've
got golden taste; and Shuler Hensley. Hensley's name is not one that
causes panting and swooning, but if you saw the recent revival of
"Oklahoma!," you might remember his breakout performance as
Jud Fry, which won for him a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award.
He alone was reason enough to find out about "Trailer Park."
But the rest of the cast, I found out at the preview, was equally as
splendid, and the reason why this musical is now a hit.
"There's broad
comedy, there's great rock 'n' roll, there's a little bit of disco
thrown in, there's blues," Kelso says. In addition, Nehls says,
"It has heart, which people don't expect. And, it's funny, funny,
funny. Loud, loud, loud. And, then, there are little moments of heart
that catch you by surprise, hopefully, and make you feel for these
people. By the end, you feel like you've gone on a journey, not just
enjoyed a frivolous, frilly evening. When you go to the theater, I think
you should be moved on many levels. And, that's what we're trying to
accomplish here."
New
York Post - 'Trailer Park' Now In Drive :
"It's
the rare musical that features an operatically trained bass-baritone as
a toll collector - Tony winner Shuler Hensley, showing great comic chops
after his villainous turn in Oklahoma!"
Production photos by Bruce Glikas
Trailer
Park Gallery Photo
Call by Playbill - Trailer Park Cast Helps Build Homes for Hurricane
Victims Photo
Call by Playbill - Hensley and Company's Trailer Rolls Into Town On
Schedule with Opening Night Photo
coverage of the show's press preview, by Ben Strothmann at Broadway
World.com Photo
Call by Playbill - Belches and beer as the Trailer Park Musical gets
ready for opening
Now playing : 'Owner of my Heart'
14 track CD available ~ see 
Playbill's
Hensley is relishing in
his newfound role. "I'm cast so much as the villains and stuff.
Norbert is the everyman who gets caught in a guy's dream situation - two
women fighting over him - but it quickly turns into a nightmare."
Another selling point for the Oklahoma! Tony winner was the familiar
territory. "It's set in the South where I was born and raised and
has the country western rock music that I grew up with." Hensley
said he was excited to work on another new type of show which he
described as "part De La Guarda, part regular musical
theatre." Even more enthused by the prospect of his role in Tarzan
were his children. "We went to the Atlanta zoo and my five year old
girl, Skyler, saw the gorilla cage and said 'Look, there you are daddy!"
