THIBODAUX – Nicholls State University’s acting troupe, the Nicholls Players, will offer four public performances of “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” later this month as part of Homecoming Week.
“This will be the Nicholls Players’ first musical in 14 years – a comedy that mixes country, blues and rock and roll to celebrate the kind and accepting folks who dwell in close-knit mobile home communities,” Daniel Ruiz, instructor of speech/theater and director of the Nicholls Players, said. “It’s ‘South Park’ meets ‘Desperate Housewives,’ as a stripper on the run interrupts the happy home of Armadillo Acres, the finest mobile home community in south Florida. The show flies through agoraphobia, adultery, 80s nostalgia, spray cheese, road kill, hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, kleptomania, strippers, flan, disco and all the drama that happens on wheels, with a rip-roaring pace filled with cheesy but very relatable and very catchy songs.”
Featuring music and lyrics by David Nehls, the play is based on a book by Betsy Kelso. Charter Media producer and Nicholls Players alumnus Andy Elliott will direct the production, with music direction by local actress, singer and choir director Angela Jones-Landry. Performers include Nicholls students Kami Ellender as the stripper-on-the-run, Pippi; Lisa Cunningham as the agoraphobic Jeannie; Tyler Taquino as the man in the middle, Norbert; Gary Baker as Pippi’s violent ex-boyfriend, Duke; and Nancy Chauvin, Ivanna Brooks and Mercedes Hebert as the chorus of trailer park wives.
Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, and Friday, Oct. 21 – and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23 – in Talbot Theater on campus. Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for students with Nicholls ID cards, and may be purchased in advance or at the door. To reserve tickets, including reduced-rate bulk tickets, call (985) 448-4586.
Additional information is available at facebook.com/nsuplayers and https://goo.gl/5PCTj.
