The annual onslaught of holiday shows has overtaken local stages, and they’re a cherished part of the season for many folks.
But there’s always room for a newcomer. One that’s worth a try is “A Trailer Park Holiday” by Stage Left Players, which has nutball energy and a feel-good aura.
The comic musical got its world premiere last weekend at the theater’s Trinity Playhouse in Lisbon.
“Trailer Park” was written by Kandy Cleland, who is also the director, and includes music by Jodine Pilmer.
It squeezes a Hallmark Channel love story through a Columbiana County trailer park.
The setting is a tacky trailer park full of offbeat folks who know each other’s business all too well. But when the chips are down, they pull together and save the day.
“Trailer Park” is full of situations you never saw coming – because that’s how they do things in their corner of the world.
There is a lot of music, too, with a live band in the loft that keeps things quick and bouncy.
The 12 original songs are a huge highlight. With a range of musical styles and clever lyrics, they equate with what you’ll see at the highest levels.
On the stage, the down-home characters connect to each other with the bluntness that comes from living in close quarters.
It’s obvious this cast has a ton of experience and is used to working together under Cleland. Most of them become audience favorites by the end of the show.
In the lead role is Tessa Young. She plays the trailer park native who has found success in the big city but can’t break her emotional baggage to the place where she grew up. Young handles it with Hallmark charm.
Cleland has once again shown how to write a script that is lighthearted and smooth.
“Trailer Park” is the fifth musical that she has written, directed and produced at Stage Left. That might be a record for Mahoning Valley playwrights.
“A Trailer Park Holiday” is entering its final weekend, with performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
It’s new, but it might become a tradition.
Samantha Fish
Local blues-rock fans know about Samantha Fish, who always books a date in the Valley when she’s on tour.
Fish will return to the Robins Theatre on Friday for a 7 p.m. concert that also includes Cedric Burnside and Jon Spencer.
She released her new album, “Paper Doll,” in April, and then freshened it up in October with a deluxe version that includes two bonus tracks: “Dead Armadillo” and a rendition of Neil Young’s classic “Don’t Let it Bring You Down.”
Fish builds her songs on a simple foundation and then lets them take flight with evolving hooks and melodies.
She also gets personal with her lyrics.
“Dead Armadillo” is about accepting that not everyone is going to like you.
“You don’t have to be involved in every situation you encounter, and there’s a good reason for that,” she wrote in her press materials. “Not every person is meant for you. It’s a mix of self-acceptance and being unbothered by the outcomes of that.”
Tickets for her Friday concert are getting scarce. To buy them in advance, click HERE.
For a complete look at everything going on in the Mahoning Valley, check out The List.
Pictured at top: Tessa Young and Jacob Ward in “A Trailer Park Holiday.”
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