Professional actors and directors arrived in Pagosa from across the U.S. – from Michigan to Louisiana, New York City to Utah – and “The Great American Trailer Park” — the first musical of the summer season presented by Thingamajig Theatre Company at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts — opened on June 2.
“Trailer Park” is playing in repertory with two other exciting Summer 2023 productions, through late August: “Jersey Boys” and “Godspell 2012”.
Ann Evans Watson comes from Michigan to direct and choreograph “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” in her first appearance at Thingamajig. She is associate professor of musical theatre at the University of Michigan, an Equity actor, vocal instructor and coach. Many of her students have performed on Broadway and have won prestigious acting awards.
“The Great American Trailer Park Musical” is a heartwarming musical comedy about the female experience that explores the complicated relationships between a group of misfits living at a trailer park in Florida. It was performed off-Broadway in 2005, toured nationally in 2008, played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in the U.K. that year, and also spawned a Christmas version.
Five of the 14 professional actors performing this summer are much-admired favorites with local and out-of-town audiences from previous performances at Thingamajig. They include Trevor Brown, Rosa Campbell, Kristi Contreary, Samantha “Sam” Luck and Allie Tamburello. Rosa Campbell also will be stage manager. As an added bonus, dancer Dani Loewen returns as the choreographer for “Jersey Boys.”
Others on stage will be talented new faces.
All the actors were recruited by Tim Moore, Thingamajig’s artistic director, on a month-long nationwide audition trip that took him to New York City, Memphis and Michigan where he saw 7,800 artists and issued callbacks to 300 before choosing the final 14. “This is a singers’ season so everyone is a very strong vocalist,” Moore said. “It was exciting to see so much fresh new talent.