Nov. 21, 2014
The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical comes to Venice A show with spray snow, beer-can ornaments, garden gnomes, 12 days of amnesia, Christmas Spam, a Christmas curse and a dream ballet … It’s everything a holiday musical should be.
(Venice, FL) The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical will have its area premiere on Venice Theatre’s Pinkerton Stage Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. This “preposterously zany” musical (EntertainingU.com) will run through Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $28 for adults, $15 for college students and $13 for students through grade 12. The show contains strong language and risqué humor. Tickets for The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical are on sale now at 941-488-1115 or at www.venicestage.com.
Over the past few seasons, Venice Theatre has presented three productions of The Great American Trailer Park Musical to sold-out houses. When a Christmas version became available, Allan Kollar, producer of Venice Theatre’s Cabaret Series, jumped at the opportunity to bring it to local audiences. “The script is even funnier than the original, the music and our singers are amazing, and even though the show is silly, it has heart and characters you care about. It should be able to get anyone into the holiday spirit.” BroadwayWorld.com described the recent Houston production of the show as a, “… frivolous holiday confection that expertly mixes the trashy with the splashy to create a story that is cute, charming, and an absolute riot.”
Kelly Wynn Woodland returns to direct the Venice Theatre cast which includes several veterans of “Armadillo Acres” (North Florida’s most exclusive manufactured housing community) and a couple of newcomers. Cara Herman, Laura Priscilla Hoffman, Liz Pascoe and Travis Rogers have performed in other incarnations of the show. Kaitlyn Terpstra and Brian Graziani are new to the neighborhood. Herman, Pascoe and Hoffman are Betty, Pickles and Lin, respectively. Acting as a Greek chorus of sorts, they narrate the melodrama in three-part harmony, bringing to life the bluesy, country-rock score.
The story this time around introduces audiences to a new character in the trailer park, Darlene Seward, (played by Terpstra) who is equal parts Grinch and Scrooge. An unusual accident gives her a case of amnesia along with some new-found Christmas spirit. Will she maintain her joyful attitude long enough for “Armadillo Acres” to win the Better Homes and Mobile Gardens award for best-decorated trailer park in North Florida? And what about her love life? Will she stay with Jackie (Travis Rogers), the materialistic owner of a thriving “breastaurant” chain who is as mean as she is (was) or explore her surprising feelings for Rufus (Graziani), her redneck neighbor with a heart of gold and a penchant for designing Christmas ornaments out of bleach bottles and mud flap girls?
Audiences can find out all this and more at Venice Theatre, located at 140 W. Tampa Ave. on the island in Venice. Box Office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The box office also opens one hour before all performances.
The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical
Music and lyrics by David Nehls
Book by Betsy Kelso
Production Staff
Director – Kelly Wynn Woodland
Music Director – Peter Madpak
Choreographer – Laura Priscilla Hoffman
Stage Manager – Linda Kochmit
Scenic Designer – John Andzulis
Costume Designer – Stephanie Gift
Lighting Designer – Ryan Mueller
Sound Designer – Dorian Boyd
Cast
Darlene – Kaitlyn Terpstra
Rufus – Brian Graziani
Jackie – Travis Rogers
Betty – Cara Herman
Lin – Laura Hoffman
Pickles – Liz Pascoe
Venice, FL 34285
Tickets: 941-488-1115
Venice Theatre’s mission is making a dramatic impact on all stages of life. The second-largest out of 10,000 community theatres in the United States, it is located at 140 W. Tampa Ave .on the island in Venice, FL. Its MainStage offers seating for 432 patrons and features musicals, plays, concerts and special events. Its Yvonne Pinkerton Theatre seats 90 patrons and is home to the theatre’s “Generations”, Stage II and Cabaret Series. In addition to providing entertainment to the community, Venice Theatre has a wide range of education and outreach programs for children and adults.
