The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas | |
---|---|
Music | Carol Hall |
Lyrics | Carol Hall |
Book | Larry L. King Peter Masterson |
Basis | Story by Larry L. King |
Productions | 1978 Broadway 1980 U.S. Tour 1980 Sydney 1981 West End 1982 Broadway Revival 1982 Film 2001 U.S. Tour 2011 London Fringe Revival |
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened off-Broadway at the Entermedia Theatre on April 17, 1978. [1] It reopened on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on June 19, 1978, [2] and ran for 1,584 performances. The production was directed by Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune and choreographed by Tune and Thommie Walsh. The opening cast included Carlin Glynn, Henderson Forsythe, Jay Garner, Joan Ellis, Delores Hall, and Pamela Blair. Glynn was replaced by Fannie Flagg and Anita Morris later in the run. Alexis Smith starred as Miss Mona in the first U.S. National Tour, September 1979 through February 1981, [3] with stops in major cities from Boston to Los Angeles.
The Sydney production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 13 September 1980. Produced by J. C. Williamson Ltd, it starred Lorraine Bayly as Miss Mona and Alfred Sandor as Sherriff Ed Earl Dodd, with Mona Richardson as Jewel, Judi Connelli as Doatsy Mae and Peter Whitford as the Governor. [4]
The West End production opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on February 26, 1981. Produced by Bernard Delfont, it again starred Carlin Glynn and Henderson Forsythe, with Miquel Brown as Jewel and Betsy Brantley as Angel. It included Sally Ann Triplett and Robert Meadmore and ran for 204 performances. [5]
A "summer stock" production that toured the northeastern U.S. in 1982 starred Barbara Eden, William Hardy and Jay Garner. [6]
In what was described as "a return engagement", the show opened on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on May 31, 1982, and closed on July 24, 1982, after nine previews and 63 performances. The cast featured Carlin Glynn and Delores Hall. [7]
A short-lived sequel entitled The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public was staged on Broadway in 1994.
"The Aggie Song" was performed on the Tony Awards broadcast, but was heavily censored because of the nature of the lyrics and choreography.
A U.S. National Tour starring Ann-Margret opened on February 14, 2001. [8]
A benefit concert took place on October 16, 2006, to benefit the Actor's Fund. The concert was directed by Mark S. Hoebee and choreographed by Denis Jones. The cast included Terrence Mann (as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd), Emily Skinner, and Jennifer Hudson. [9]
It is the late 1970s, and a brothel has been operating outside of fictional Gilbert, Texas (based on La Grange) for more than a century. It is currently under the proprietorship of Miss Mona Stangley, who inherited it from original owner Miss Wulla Jean. While caring for her girls, she is also on good terms with local sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, and donates to the greater community. When crusading television reporter Melvin P. Thorpe (based on real-life Houston news personality Marvin Zindler) decides to publicize the illegal activity, the ensuing political ramifications eventually cause the business to be closed down.
Character | Broadway (1978) [10] | Film (1982) | Tour (2001) [11] | The Actors' Fund (2006) [12] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mona Stangley | Carlin Glynn | Dolly Parton | Ann-Margret | Emily Skinner |
Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd | Henderson Forsythe | Burt Reynolds | Gary Sandy | Terrence Mann |
Jewel | Delores Hall | Theresa Merritt | Avery Sommers | Jennifer Hudson |
Melvin P. Thorpe | Clinton Allmon | Dom DeLuise | Rob Donohoe | Bob Martin |
The Governor of Texas | Jay Garner | Charles Durning | Ed Dixon | Harry Groener |
C.J. Scruggs | Barry Corbin | Bob Amaral | ||
Chip Brewster | — | Barrett Foa | ||
Rio Grande Bandleader/Deputy Fred Wilkins | Craig Chambers | Jim Nabors | Hal Davis | Christian Hoff |
Doatsy Mae/Dulcie Mae | Susan Mansur | Lois Nettleton | Roxie Lucas | Andrea McArdle |
Angelette Imogene Charlene | Lisa Brown | — | — | Sharon Wheatley |
Linda Lou | Donna King | — | Erin Malloy | Jennifer Cody |
Ruby Rae | Becky Gelke | — | Gina Milo | Rachelle Rak |
Beatrice | Jan Merchant | — | Kristin Reitter | J. Elaine Marcos |
Eloise | Marta Sanders | — | Jennifer Evans | Michelle Kittrell |
Dawn | Lisa Brown | — | Mary Bond Davis | Roxane Barlow |
Taddy Jo | Carol Chambers | Terri Treas | Tracy Jai Edwards | Amber Efé |
Durla | Debra Zalkind | — | Quisha Freeman | Christina Marie Norrup |
Ginger | Louise Quick-Brown | — | Jane Labanz | Angie Schworer |
Shy | Joan Ellis | Andrea Pike | Jen Celene Little | Mary Faber |
Amber/Angel | Pamela Blair | Valerie Leigh Bixler | Terri Dixon | Felicia Finley |
Mayor Rufus Poindexter | J. Frank Lucas | Raleigh Bond | Matt Landers | Richard Poe |
Senator Wingwoah | Robert Mandan | Richard Kind |
|
|
"The Bus from Amarillo" was moved to the final scene, sometime late in the run of the original production and has generally played that way ever since.
† was added in the 2001 production.
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Tony Award | Best Musical | Nominated | |
Best Book of a Musical | Larry L. King and Peter Masterson | Nominated | ||
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Henderson Forsythe | Won | ||
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Carlin Glynn | Won | ||
Joan Ellis | Nominated | |||
Best Direction of a Musical | Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune | Nominated | ||
Best Choreography | Tommy Tune and Thommie Walsh | Nominated | ||
Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Henderson Forsythe | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Carlin Glynn | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Pamela Blair | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Director of a Musical | Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune | Won | ||
Outstanding Choreography | Tommy Tune and Thommie Walsh | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Lyrics | Carol Hall | Won | ||
Outstanding Music | Won | |||
Theatre World Award | Carlin Glynn | Won |
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, such as "Pick the Winner".
Annie is a musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years, setting a record for the Alvin Theatre. It spawned numerous productions in many countries, as well as national tours, and won seven Tony Awards, including for Best Musical. The musical's songs "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life" are among its most popular musical numbers.
Thomas James Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Gary Sandy is an American actor. He is best known for playing program director Andy Travis on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982).
Wally Harper was an American musical director, composer, conductor, dance arranger, and musical supervisor for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. For three decades from the mid-1970s, he worked with Barbara Cook as pianist, music director and arranger.
Peter Masterson was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. He made his Broadway debut in November 1967 in The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, playing the title character. Although he got good notices, the play closed after nine performances.
Carol Hall was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for composing the music and lyrics for the Broadway stage musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Her other works include the Broadway sequel The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (1994), as well as the Off-Broadway musical To Whom It May Concern.
Thomas Joseph "Thommie" Walsh III was an American dancer, choreographer, director, and author.
Anita Rose Morris was an American actress, singer and dancer. She began her career performing in Broadway musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw and Nine, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.
Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 11 Broadway productions including New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.
The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public is a musical with a book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is a sequel to the 1978 musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theater director and college professor.
Carlin Elizabeth Glynn was an American singer and actress. Most notable for her work as a theater performer, she is best known for her Tony Award-winning performance, as Mona Stangley, in the original 1978 production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She is also known for her roles in John Hughes' Sixteen Candles (1984) and Peter Masterson's The Trip to Bountiful (1985), which is based on the play of the same name, by Horton Foote. Glynn was the mother of actress Mary Stuart Masterson.
Delores Hall is an American stage and television actress who made her Broadway debut as a replacement in the ensemble of Hair.
Dee Hoty is an American actress known for her work in musical theatre. Over the course of her career, she has appeared in numerous Broadway productions and earned three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical, for The Will Rogers Follies (1991), The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (1994), and Footloose (1999).
Pamela Blair was an American actress best known for originating the role of Val in the musical A Chorus Line and several appearances on American soap operas.
Ed Dixon is an American character actor, playwright and composer.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a 1982 American musical comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Colin Higgins. An adaptation of the 1978 Broadway musical of the same name, the film stars Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Jim Nabors, Charles Durning and Dom DeLuise.
Lawrence Leo King was an American playwright, journalist, and novelist, best remembered for his 1978 Tony Award-nominated play The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which became a long-running production on Broadway and was later turned into a feature film starring Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning, and Dolly Parton.
William Hardy was an American actor and theatre director with a lifelong career on both the stage and screen.