The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas - Evolution

[fossemoves]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:15pm

So I'm researching Whorehouse for a possible directing gig I will have next spring and am having issues finding info on the evolution of the endings. I know in the original there was a 'finale' that was a reprise of 20 fans and had a sort of 'cabaret'ish kinda ending with the fiddle... however from the licenseable script, it ends with Bus Ride to Amarillo... then Carol Hall was asked to write a new song "You've Been A Friend" for the Ann Margaret tour...

So I guess what I'm getting at is, what do you guys know about the various incarnations of Whorehouse. Share with me your wisdom. I take it the original reprise version is not available for production?

[broadwayrob]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:32pm

My friend Bob would probably tell you to get "The Whorehouse Papers" by Larry L. King (who wrote the book of the musical.) It's his account of the show's creation and journey. Plus an amazing insight to the background of the show. There are a couple of used versions on Amazon.

happy hunting!

[sparrman]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:34pm

I did the show in the mid-eighties. As I remember...Mona sang "Bus to Amarillo". Then the Bandleader reprised a bit of his opening tune. Then Mona sang "It was just a little old bitty pissant country place..." and then a final guitar chord, and then blackout.

Long time ago...memory may be faulty...hope that helps.

[sparrman]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:36pm

BTW, the April 1974 issue of Playboy has the original story by Larry L. King.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 6:25am

"Bus From Amarillo" was originally near the end of the first act (during the scene between Mona and Ed Earl, right before the raid). The song was actually moved to the end of the show during the brief London production in 1979, which is the current licensed version of the show.

"You Were a Friend to Me" was written to expand the part for Ann Margret for the tour (thus moving "Amarillo" back to the first act).

Carol Hall said at the time, that it was a difficult song to write, because she didn't really feel WHOREHOUSE needed a new song - especially at the ending.

My guess that is the feeling of the entire team because the song was dropped when the Ann Margret tour went non-equity after her departure, and hasn't been included in any incarnation of the show since - not even the Actors Fund concert version performance.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 7:03am

I adore "A Friend to Me". I wish Carol liked it more.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 8:55am

The original off-Broadway production essentially ended with "Hard Candy Christmas." I need to go back and find my notes about the rest of it.

Personally, "A Friend to Me" would work in the score if they had switched the location. It fits in well with what she and Ed Earl are discussing at the end of Act I. However, Act I is already well over 90 minutes, and Act II is only 30-45, so having *another* song would really just make the show run forever.

Edited because I had my fact wrong. Nevermind.

Updated On: 8/26/08 at 08:55 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 9:24am

I like "You Were a Friend to Me" also. I think Carol Hall likes it too - she just doesn't think its a necessary part of the WHOREHOUSE score and in truth it isn't. That said, I think it worked fine as the final number of the score. If you had to include both songs, I think they actually made the right choice, as "You Were a Friend to Me" is definitely a good bye song. It would have brought a wierd energy to the ending of the first act - especially before the raid.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 9:27am

I was always under the impression that "Bus From Amarillo" was first sung by Pam Blair in the first act (before they changed the name of her character from Amber to Angel.) I'm not sure why they gave the number to Mona.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 9:46am

"Amarillo" was sung by Pam Blair originally right after the telephone conversation she has with her son in Act 1.

It was given to Mona in previews - rightfully so, I think, to help flesh out Mona's character. Another interesting tid bit from the "Whorehouse" papers: Pam Blair's character was originally called Amber. The "real" Miss Mona,Edna Milton, was actually in the orignal cast (mostly as a novely) playing Wulla Jean. She was a nightmare - and made them change Pam Blair's character's name to April because 'Amber' had been her favorite whore at the real Whorehouse, and Pam Blair (who she hated) was unworthy of that name! Milton complained about April too after a few weeks, so they settled on Angel.
Updated On: 8/26/08 at 09:46 AM

[temms]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 10:19am

I like the "Bus From Amarillo" ending - it feels right, to me. If you read the "Best Plays" volume from "Whorehouse"'s year, it has a synopsis of the show (with lots of pictures) and describes the original Broadway finale in some detail. I forget exactly how it went, but I know it's outlined in there.

And I love the show, but that first act is LOOONG. In Larry King's book, he talks about a cut scene between Shy and a local boy who dates her, where she talks about how life as a poor field hand is worse than a life as a whore. I've wondered if that scene might work after all; it seems a lot of people who dislike the show complain that the whores don't have any depth and are just basically props. If you were going to add anything, that would be what I'd be curious to see. It's already such a long act, though.

A question for the experts: I saw a production that added a line for Ed Earl at the end of the last scene, right before "Bus From Amarillo". In the "No Lies" scene, Mona tells the story of Ed Earl taking her to a hotel and watching the Kennedy inauguration, and ordering Eggs Benedict from room service. At the end of the show, she asks Ed Earl if he remembers that day; he says he doesn't, then launches into a story about the assassination before they say goodbye.

In this production, there was one extra line just before he left: something like "Kennedy's inauguration... I don't really remember where I was, or what I was doin', but for some reason, I have a taste for Eggs Benedict." I'm paraphrasing. It was actually really sweet and a wonderful moment, where he finally acknowledged that yeah, of course I remember, but there's no use getting sentimental about it now.

Did Larry King write that line, or was it an "improvement" by someone in the production? It was a great moment and the actors played the hell out of it (and it put Mona in a slightly less tragic place when she started "Bus From Amarillo"), but I have a feeling it didn't come from him...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 12:28pm

I disagree MB, I think that at that moment ending it with the happier "Friend to Me" allows the Raid to be even more heartbreaking. For me "Bus From Amarillo" makes a more solid ending.

I'd love to have heard Pam Blair sing the full song, I've heard about a minute long clip, and it sounded great.

And yes, I do agree that there should have been more substance to at least Angel and Shy, we meet them at the start of the show and then suddenly they are gone by Act II.

I put the cast album in on my way to/from school, and it's still a great recording.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 1:12pm

Bus from Amarillo has to be one of the strongest endings for a musical, IMHO.

Can someone revive the show now?

[fossemoves]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 1:36pm

As usual, you guys are a wealth of trivia and useful info. Keep it coming. I had already ordered The Whorehouse papers from a resale shop so it's good to know that the book will not be a bust either.

Someone said this show needs a revival... I couldn't agree more. Someone fierce in the Mona role. Bernadette? eh... Idina? Too young? Reba would be great but she has said that she doesn't want to do another revival - right? Lilias White? It might be really interesting to have an African American Miss Mona.

[UglyBetty]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 4:24pm

Charles Busch. done.

Seriously- Patti Lupone.

[morosco]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 4:43pm

I think Carlin Glynn was just wonderful in this show.
Bus From Amarillo - Carlin Glynn

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 9:57pm

Carlin was great!

I really do wish Reba would tackle this. Even if it were at Encores! Summer Stars.

Bernadette would be pretty wrong for this part. You need someone with a hard edge, that neither Patti or Bernadette have.

And definitely no to Charles Busch. It would defeat what they were trying to get across.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 10:09pm

It should be Reba. If not her? I'm not sure there is anybody else right now. At least not the Broadway leading ladies. Its not really a role for a musical theatre diva.

And on that note - please not sequins or feather boas for Miss Mona (a la Dolly Parton). She should be in jeans and a blouse like Carlin Glinn. No nonsense, charming and suavely sexy.

[Patash]

Posted: 8/26/08 at 11:47pm

husk charmer, I have to laugh. Considering all the things said on this forum, it took a lot of guts to suggest that Patti doesn't have a "hard edge"!

And temms, I played the Governor about 18 or 20 years ago, and that extra line about Ed Earl having a yen for Eggs Benedict was in the script. Yes. It was a great line. Is that not in the current licensed version?

[fossemoves]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 1:25am

Michael Bennett you hit the nail on the head... what is with the sequins and boas always for whorehouse? These were 'ladies' after all. There were rules and a sense of morals. I hate it when Whorehouse ends up looking trashy. It should look sexy and even hint at fetishistic, but down right trashy? I don't think so. In some ways this was a feminist musical.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 8:28am

Exactly. Considering Mona actually tells them:

"And please don't show me no tattoos/no hearts and flowers on your thigh/it's downright tacky."

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 9:22am

When I was in the show with members of the OBC in the '80s, we ended with Bus From Amarillo.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 1:15pm

"In some ways this was a feminist musical"

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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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[fossemoves]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 5:44pm

Okay, okay, okay, I get it. I didn't say it was, I said it was in some ways...

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/27/08 at 6:46pm

Carlin was perfection -- a real Texan, without frills or affect. The character is a tough character, a businesswoman with no bs built into her success. Unfortunately, too many people think of Dolly in the film -- the drag queen version of the role (sorry, Miss Mona would not wear Danny LaRue dresses and wigstock hair--she'd think it a waste of time to gussy up that way). Even though she, too, dons a gown for the Aggie enslaught, it's simple and far from tacky.

The role never works when it's caricatured in any way. The strength is the grit and the authenticity in the 'voice' of the dialogue. If someone plays Mona with that breathy deep south fried accent, it's false. People tell me Alexis Smith was quite effective, as an older Mona. Older would work, but glammed up does not. Give me Sissy Spacek.