Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"... Granted, anyone headed to a show with this title is unlikely to be offended by a show trafficking in working-class stereotypes. And, yes, take a turn around such a Floridian park and you'll surely find some wild arrays of ornamental plastic critters, if not former exotic dancers living the life. "The Great American Trailer Park Musical," which employs a Greek chorus of trash, you might say, has its moments. But really, the changes in life since 2004 have not been so kind to this piece: Lots of very diverse and atypical folks live in trailer parks out of choice or economic necessity, and they don't necessarily conform to what we see here."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...“The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” now onstage at Theater Wit (courtesy of Kokandy Productions), is a truly hilarious, winkingly low-brow show that contains enough talent to ignite the coldest coals on a rusty barbeque. A 90-minute hoot, it comes with a rousing country-style score by David Nehls, a book by Betsy Kelso (think soft-hearted “Killer Joe” meets “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” with a pinch of Jerry Springer for zest). And it features rapidfire direction by John D. Glover, a powerhouse band led by Allison Hendrix, and a knockout cast of seven with big voices and great comic chops."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...The songs are forgettable, the jokes—about tabloid TV, miscegenation, Wal-Mart, drug abuse, etc—are painfully predictable, and one bit about a man facing death in the electric chair is gratuitously offensive. The material is redeemed somewhat, in John Glover's staging for Kokandy Productions, by powerhouse female vocalists and high-quality visual design."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Trailer Park leads off with a great Greek Chorus-like trio of Betty (Danni Smith), Donna (Jennifer Wisegarver) and Linoleum (Ashley Braxton) who know all the ins and outs of the Armadillo Acres trailer park in Starke, Fla. These three comment on and play many other roles to help tell the love-quadrangle of toll collector Norbert Garstecki (Jonathan Hickerson); his agoraphobic wife, Jeanie (Christina Hall); his stripper mistress, Pippi (Bri Schumacher); and her murderous ex-boyfriend, Duke (Alex Grelle)."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"... The whole dang cast is a hoot and each of the five women can belt out a song with the best of them. Christina Hall’s Jeannie and Bri Schumacher’s Pippi are both funny, yet sincerely touching. Danni Smith’s Betty, Ashley Braxton’s Lin and Jennifer Wisegarver’s Donna are terrifically strong, broadly comic actor/singers. As Norbert and Duke, Jonathan Hickerson and Alex Grelle are simply terrific. And under John Glover’s capable direction, Tom Coppola’s terrific choreography and Allison Hendrix’s expert musical leadership (her four-member trailer park band is pitch perfect!), there is no more purely entertaining summer musical comedy playing “This Side of the Tracks.”"
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Director John D. Glover’s comedically adept cast brings a playful sketch-comedy charm to its broad roles, and vocally ramps up Nehls’s score, which has some welcome and catchy shades of Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors."
Stage and Cinema - Recommended
"...Obviously, Trailer Park is not the new My Fair Lady but I enjoyed it as much as the hit Pump Boys and Dinettes, another musical essay in cornpone Americana. The show isn’t interested in furthering the evolution of American Musical Theater, but hopefully this production will serve as a springboard to accelerate the careers of all seven performers. They deserve it."
ChicagoCritic - Somewhat Recommended
"...The county-pop-rock score with strong blues elements is most generic and instantly forgettable. With the crude sexy movements and the sophomoric plot, Trailer quickly turns into a screaming hyper affair that morphs into shout singing. The men have weak voices and Hall, Schumacher, and Braxton sport strong vocal acumen. Too bad they had to sing such derivative songs. The show drones on and it contains too many songs for a 90 minute one act musical. Yet, despite all thing corny tunes , the over-the-top acting and all the screaming, Trailer Park has a cuteness and a genuine innocence that some will find intoxicating. I found it a course, raw and boring. So, as unsure as I am as to who is the audience for this show, the producers saw something in Trailer Park that escapes me. See it at your own risk – if crude humor and loud country/rock/ blues music is your in your taste range, maybe you’ll enjoy Trailer Park? The cast sure had energy."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"... Trailer Park Musical is in fact 90 minutes of pure laugh out loud fun. (0 minutes of not thinking about the economy, the election, the report you have due in two days or in fact anything but having a great time. Directed by John D. Glover ( might I add, slickly directed) on a cartooning, yet clever set by Zachary Gipson, from the time the band enters theater 3 at Wit, we get into the feeling of what the playwright wanted to do- allow us to escape from our reality and enter the lives of the characters in Armadillo Acres in Starke Florida. The stereotypes are all here; first of all, they are all southern ( with slight accents) and each trailer appears to be what we “think” they should be- metal with a few stairs up to the door, some with awnings, some not and of course all their “patio furniture” is aluminum and mesh nylon folding lawn chairs ( you know, the ones that Chicagoans use to “mark their parking spots” in a winter snowstorm, once shoveled)."