Trashy treasure: ‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Cyrano’s

When a play's set features trailers and a stripper pole, you know you're about to see something marvelously trashy.

And "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" at Cyrano's, a song-filled soap opera complete with infidelity, pink flamingo lawn ornaments, many mullets, and a stripper on the run, is indeed a trashy treasure.

The rowdy, raunchy and surprisingly heartfelt musical, which premiered in New York in 2005, is the last show at Cyrano's downtown space before the 25-year-old theater company moves to its new East Anchorage location at 3800 DeBarr Road.

Playing through the end of August, "Trailer Park" is a perfect summertime show with a bubbly soundtrack that bounces from boogie woogie to disco to '80s pop to blues and more genres.

The Armadillo Acres Trailer Park in seedy Stark, Florida, is home to lovable losers like adorable agoraphobic Jeannie (Jill Bess), who hasn't left her trailer for two decades, her frustrated husband Norbert (Mark Robokoff), and Pippi (ShaeLisa Anderson), a stripper and survivor who flees to Florida to escape her unhinged boyfriend Duke (Anthony Lounsbury).

The three narrators/backup singers, Betty, Pickles and Lin — short for Linoleum — are the glue that holds all the trailer park chaos together.

They keep the action moving, transitioning through the changes in musical genre and dance styles with ease.

They also establish their own strong characters. Pickles, played by Sara Jean Larson Greenberg, is the dim, knock-kneed trailer park waif with a constant case of hysterical pregnancy. Lin is a sassy tough girl and former Ted Nugent groupie with a husband on death row. And Betty, the owner of Armadillo Acres, is the heart and matriarch of the trailer park.

The characters could be played as simple stereotypes, but the cast brings out their individuality and vulnerability.

For instance, Robokoff's Norbert is so flustered, sweet and starved for affection that you can't stay mad at him for temporarily taking up with sexy stripper Pippi.

The finest and funniest musical numbers are the disco ball-enhanced "Storm's A Brewin'" and "Road Kill," in which Magic Marker-sniffing redneck Duke drives a tiny car around the stage, hitting various unfortunate stuffed animals and a deer played by one of the actors.

The show's most sensational scene is a dream sequence that transfers the characters to a Jerry Springer-esque talk show that degenerates into a fabulous screaming fight.

The singing in the show isn't always spot-on, but it doesn't really matter. This lively low-rent romp is still a double-wide delight.

The Great American Trailer Park Musical

When: 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 27

Where: 413 D St., Anchorage

Tickets: $25 general admission, $23 for military and seniors, centertix.net