Lust 'n Rust: The Trailer Park Musical Playwrights: Frank Haney, Carol Kimball, Dave Stratton - 5306 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

Reviews of shows like Lust 'n Rust are often the most difficult to write. The brand new show, penned by a trio of writers, is so middle of the road, it's hard to pin down: it's pleasant, but a far cry from brilliant; it has faults, but it's a far cry from horrible. Lust 'n Rust is the kind of show that has a few good things to recommend it, but can't really compete for a theater-goer's dollar, not when there are so many far superior shows running in Chicago.

Subtitled "the trailer park musical," this premiere country-western production showcases the lives and loves of the residents of Redbud Mobile Estates in Twister Plains, Ill. Their somewhat complacent lives are disrupted by a new arrival, Steve ( David Bryson ) , a yuppie plant manager from New Jersey, in Twister Plains to take over as plant manager of Agribig, the staple of the local economy and employer of most of its residents. Why Steve, who has some 1,000 people under him, would choose to rent a trailer in a trailer park is a mystery that, albeit questioned during the course of the play, is never really convincingly explained. The idea of someone who is obviously an upper-echelon executive, with its attendant salary and lifestyle, living in a trailer park ( even temporarily ) is ludicrous.

But Steve needs to live at Redbud Mobile Estates. How else would he meet up with Connie ( Laura Scott Wade ) and come between her and her estranged husband, Duane ( Marc Jablon ) ? Steve also serves as an observer: we see the "trying-desperately-to-be-quirky" residents of the trailer park through his eyes.

I came to the play expecting to revel in some hilarious moments: high camp, perhaps, a new take on working-class people that had some bite. But Lust 'n Rust is bland, settling for easy jokes, easy characters, and a storyline whose "surprise" and resolution can be seen from a mile off. There's very little conflict in the story and everything is too neatly tied up in the end. The show came across as more of a concert with an uninspired story, rather than a work of true musical theater.

But Lust 'n Rust does have several things to recommend it. The songs, themselves, are pretty darn good: they're polished and professional and sound very much like something you'd hear on the Top 40 list of a contemporary country station. Backed up by the talented Markley Brothers Band, the songs are, mostly, a delight. All of the cast are able pop singers and bring the songs to rollicking life. One caveat though: I realize the singers needed to be miked to be heard over the band ( at least I think that's the rationale ) , but using mikes in such a small theater made the singers' voices sound pre-recorded, causing me to wonder, at first, if they were lip-synching.

Although Lust 'n Rust is by no means an unqualified success, it demonstrates a lot of future commercial promise for the creative team behind it.