Talkin' (Trailer) Trash

Big hair and equally big drama rule tonight, when the national tour of The Great American Trailer Park Musical trucks into Lorain County Community College's Stocker Center. Originally an off-Broadway show, the gawdy yet heartfelt comedy unfolds in a Florida trailer park filled with nosy, obnoxious neighbors and surrounded by flamingos, shopping carts, and loads of stringy cheese spray. "I'm from Florida, and I know a lot of colorful people like this," says Steven Smeltzer, the show's choreographer. "I had an uncle who wouldn't come back to his hometown, because he blew up the railroad."The characters include Jeannie, who hasn't stepped out of her trailer in 20 years because of acute agoraphobia. Her hubby tries to take her on a classy night out to the Ice Capades to break the rut, but a stripper wanders into town and sets all tongues wagging. Then there are the park gossips, Pickles and Linoleum, who catch the audience up on everybody's business, between songs that range from country-western to ballads, with a takeoff on the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" thrown into the loop. "People will see themselves in it," says Smeltzer. "Or more likely, they see their aunt or someone else in the family." The fun starts at 7:30 tonight at the Stocker Center, 1005 North Abbe Road in Elyria. Tickets are $25. Call 440-366-4040 or visit www.loraincc.edu/stocker.
Sun., March 2, 7:30 p.m., 2008