The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 6:48pm

I know I'm the queen of discovering things way after the rest of the world but I just listened to the recording on Spotify and it is marvelous. I've never been able to get through the movie - the songs Dolly added don't really do it for me.

Did anyone here see the 2007 Actors' Fund reading with Emily Skinner? I know it was recorded.

[once a month]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 8:27pm

As much as I enjoyed the Emily benefit, I loved the original so much more. They were both far superior to the Ann Margaret tour.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 8:29pm

I also just discovered this show. I watched the movie on TV the other day and have recently been obsessed with it.

It's too bad the Actor's Fund Concert wasn't recorded professionally, as I'd love to hear it. I know the Ann-Margaret tour cast was recorded but haven't heard it.

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 9:21pm

What was bad about the tour? Wasn't it supposed to come to Broadway?

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 10:57pm

I actually saw the tour in San Antonio in the summer of 1999. It was o.k. I barely remember it.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 11:04pm

From what I remember of the tour it received fairly lukewarm reviews. It wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't something you ran out of the theatre ready to sing its praises. An enjoyable night at the theatre that left no lasting impression.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 2/2/14 at 11:31pm

I wish NBC would have chosen this with Reba in the lead.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/3/14 at 8:10am

I think that, because of the movie, most people don't realize that this show isn't a star vehicle. It's an ensemble piece; I don't think I'd even call Miss Mona the "lead," really.

I love that her one big character-revealing song, "The Bus From Amarillo," was originally sung by Angel, and not given to Mona until really late in the rehearsal process.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 2/5/14 at 12:15am

I have very positive memories of the Bway original, as well. Yep. Movie didn't capture the charm of the stage & 'star' presence doesn't help. It was an ensemble project that most scored.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/5/14 at 10:29am

I read somewhere a really long time ago that the original screenplay to BLWIT stuck pretty close to the original and in fact did include the character of "Angel".

I think the revisions began once Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton signed on to play the leads.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/5/14 at 10:40am

Larry King's book, "The Whorehouse Papers" is one of the best books about the development of a hit musical; he glosses nothing and pulls no punches. One might not care for his comic homophobia (I don't), but it's an undeniably informative and entertaining read.

He also discusses what he sees (and I agree) as the terrible mistakes made in translating the show to film; it's certainly a very mainstream, safe, easy movie, but it has none of the qualities that made the stage show unique.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 2/9/14 at 5:19pm

Here's Terrence Mann in the benefit performance. My favorite song from the show.
Good Old Girl

[blaxx]

Posted: 2/9/14 at 7:13pm

I liked Bus from Amarillo closing the show.

I've been hoping for a revival for years.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 2/9/14 at 8:03pm

Thanks for mentioning THE WHOREHOUSE PAPERS. I've got that on my 'next read' list now.

[alterego]

Posted: 2/9/14 at 8:05pm

I too second Newintown's post about The Whorehouse Papers.

[BroadwayTriviaNerd]

Posted: 2/9/14 at 8:25pm

Personally, my favorite whorehouse in TX is Crazy Eight's Coyote Farm. Drinks are reasonable, and there is a tractor farm to boot. SInging and dancing not allowed, thats the only drawback.

One time, I saw a ghost

[Tink2]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 8:42am

I really enjoyed this musical. It was the second Broadway show I saw and still had the original cast. I had seen my first the night before, Sweeney Todd. On a production scale they were on opposite ends of the spectrum, but BLWIT had it's own merits. I really enjoyed the music, the down home country atmosphere and, most of all, the choreography. The film screenplay was vastly different from the stage production, but I enjoyed it non the less. I didn't get a chance to see the production with Ann Margaret. Sorry to have missed that. Packed away, somewhere, is a video of a local production that I was in, back in the early nineties, as Miss Mona. Now, I'm all nostalgic about this show and may have to dig it out to watch "my girls' and those talented "Aggies." It was a very fun show to be in.