What is The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas?

Information about The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas

'
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Original cast album
MusicCarol Hall
LyricsCarol Hall
BookLarry L. King
Peter Masterson
Based uponStory by Larry L. King
Productions1978 Broadway
1982 Broadway


The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by 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.

Production history

The original Broadway production was directed by Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune and choreographed by Tune and Thommie Walsh. It opened on June 19, 1978 at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 1,584 performances. The opening night cast included Carlin Glynn, Henderson Forsythe, Delores Hall, and Pamela Blair. Glynn was replaced by Fannie Flagg and Anita Morris later in the run.

In 1982, Glynn and Hall were cast in what was described as "a return engagement." After nine previews, it opened on May 31 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran for 63 performances.

A short-lived sequel entitled The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public was staged on Broadway in 1994.

Synopsis

It is the late 1970s, and a brothel that has been operating outside of fictional Gilbert, Texas, for more than a century is under the proprietorship of Miss Mona Stangley. While taking care of her girls, she is also on good terms with the local sheriff, Ed Earl Dodd. When crusading television reporter Melvin P. Thorpe decides to make the illegal activity an issue, political ramifications cause the place to be closed down.

Song list

Act I
  • Prologue
  • 20 Fans
  • A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place
  • Girl, You're a Woman
  • Watch Dog Theme
  • Texas Has a Whorehouse in It
  • Twenty-Four Hours of Lovin'
  • Watch Dog Theme (Reprise)
  • Texas Has a Whorehouse in It (Reprise)
  • Doatsy Mae
  • Angelette March
  • The Aggie Song
  • The Bus From Amarillo

Act II

Awards and nominations

Film adaptation

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Film poster
Directed byColin Higgins
Produced byRobert L. Boyett
Colin Higgins
Edward K. Milkis
Written byColin Higgins
StarringBurt Reynolds
Dolly Parton
Music byCarol Hall
Dolly Parton
CinematographyWilliam A. Fraker
Distributed byUniversal Studios
Release date(s)July 23 1982
Running time114 min
LanguageEnglish
IMDb profile
The 1982 feature film adaptation released by Universal Pictures was written and directed by Colin Higgins. The cast included Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Jim Nabors, Charles Durning, Dom DeLuise, Robert Mandan, Lois Nettleton, Theresa Merritt, Barry Corbin, Mary Jo Catlett, and Mary Louise Wilson.

Durning was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Golden Globe nominations went to the film for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and Parton for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical).

The plot is basically the same as that of the stage production, with one significant difference. In the original, Ed Earl and Miss Mona had a one-night stand (which the sheriff has forgotten) fifteen years earlier, but in the film they maintain an ongoing affair. Their relationship in the film brings about not only the (added) accusatory scene, when the sheriff—disappointed that Mona has broken her promise (likewise added) to close the Chicken Ranch down long enough for things to cool off—calls her a whore, but also the happy ending at the very end, when he proposes marriage to Mona (which she accepts), even though that might endanger his chances to be elected as a state legislator (he is elected anyway). A sub-plot involving Angel and Shy (newly arriving workers at the Chicken Ranch) was deleted from the film.

The Broadway score was embellished with two songs written by Parton, "Sneakin' Around" and a two-stanza version of the popular hit "I Will Always Love You".

The house used in the film version is located at Universal Studios in Hollywood and can be viewed as part of the backlot tram tour. This house was also seen in the Ghost Whisperer episode "The Lost Boys". The inspiration for the set came from a real house located outside Austin, Texas, which is featured in scenes from the movie [1].

Film censorship

The film version presented some difficulties for Universal, particularly with advertising for the film. In 1982, the word whorehouse was considered obscene in parts of the United States, resulting in the film being renamed The Best Little Cathouse in Texas in some print ads, while television ads were either banned outright in some areas, or the offending word was censored. During interviews, Parton sometimes referred to the film as The Best Little Chicken House in Texas.

Film quotes

  • "You know, it's always a business doing pleasure with you, Charlie!"
  • "Everybody liked Ed Earl. Especially Ed Earl!"
  • "Oh Fred, you don't mean to tell me, that the cows don't appreciate the time off when the bull goes over to another pasture?"
  • Mona: "You know, I knew a woman who had a vision of Jesus. He came into her house, and sat right down at the foot of her bed. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to me.
    Ed Earl: "I'll tell you something, honey. If Jesus comes to your house, all Hell is gonna break loose!"
  • Mona: "Me, jumpin' up and down, I'd black both my eyes!"
  • Mona:"I can't be a ballerina now, I'm too top heavy. I have a hard enough time, juggling these things around now!"

Bibliography

  • Hall, Carol. Vocal selections from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Melville, N.Y.: MCA Music, 1979.
  • King, Larry L. and Masterson, Peter. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Music and lyrics by Carol Hall. French's Musical Library. New York, N.Y.: S. French, 1978. ISBN 0-573-68111-2
  • King, Larry L. The Whorehouse Papers. New York: Viking Press, 1982. ISBN 0-670-15919-0

Discography

  • The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: original cast. Audio CD. MCA, 1997. MCAD-11683; MCA-3049.
  • The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas: Music from the original motion picture soundtrack. Audio CD. MCA, 1987. MCAD-31007
  • Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: New cast recording. Audio CD. Fynsworth Alley/Varèse Sarabande, 2001. 302 062 117 2.

External links

Carol Hall is an American composer and lyricist, born in Abilene, Texas.

Hall is best known for composing the music and lyrics for the Broadway stage musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978, adapted as a film in 1982).
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Peter Masterson (born June 1, 1934 in Houston, Texas) is an American actor, director, producer and writer.

Masterson often works with his cousin, writer Horton Foote.
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Broadway theatre[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows.
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Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the
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Peter Masterson (born June 1, 1934 in Houston, Texas) is an American actor, director, producer and writer.

Masterson often works with his cousin, writer Horton Foote.
..... Read more.
Carol Hall is an American composer and lyricist, born in Abilene, Texas.

Hall is best known for composing the music and lyrics for the Broadway stage musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978, adapted as a film in 1982).
..... Read more.
The Chicken Ranch operated as an illegal but tolerated brothel from 1905 until 1973 and was located in Fayette County, just outside the city limits of La Grange. It was established by Miss Jessie Williams.
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Broadway theatre[1] is the most well known form of professional theatre to the American general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows.
..... Read more.
Peter Masterson (born June 1, 1934 in Houston, Texas) is an American actor, director, producer and writer.

Masterson often works with his cousin, writer Horton Foote.
..... Read more.
Tommy Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an award-winning American actor, dancer, singer, director, producer, and choreographer.

Born Thomas James Tune in Wichita Falls, Texas, he attended Lamar High School in Houston.
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Choreography (literally "dance-writing", also known as "dance composition"), is the art of making structures in which movement occurs. The term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures.
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Thommie Walsh (born March 15 1950 - died June 16, 2007) was a Tony Award-winning American dancer, choreographer, and director.

Early life and career

Born as Thomas Joseph Walsh III in Auburn, New York, he was interested in dance from the age of five[1]
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June 19 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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Richard Rodgers Theatre, in New York City, was built by Irwin Chanin in 1925. When it was first opened, it was called Chanin's 46th Street Theatre. Chanin almost immediately leased the theatre to the Shuberts, who eventually bought the building outright in 1931 and rechristened it
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Carlin Glynn (born February 19th, 1940) is a Tony award winning actress. She is the mother of actress Mary Stuart Masterson.

Glynn made her Broadway debut as "Mona Stangley" in the original cast of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
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Henderson Forsythe (September 11, 1917 – April 17, 2006) was an American actor.

Born in Macon, Missouri, Henderson Forsythe was best known for his role as Dr. David Stewart #2 on the soap opera As the World Turns
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Delores Hall is a Tony award winning actress.

Hall made her Broadway debut as a replacement in the ensemble of Hair. She played "Bread" in the 1972 musical Dude and performed in the original musical revues Inner City,
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Pamela Blair (born December 5, 1949) known as Pam, is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for originating the role of "Val" in the musical A Chorus Line and several appearances on American Soap Operas.
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Fannie Flagg

Born: September 21 1944 (1944--) (age 63)
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Occupation: author, actress
Nationality: American Fannie Flagg
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Anita Morris (March 14, 1943 in Durham, North Carolina - March 2, 1994) in Los Angeles was an American actress.

Among many roles, Morris is best remembered as Carol Dodsworth, the mistress to Danny DeVito, in the movie Ruthless People
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Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest.
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The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
'

Original Cast Recording
Music Carol Hall
Lyrics Carol Hall
Book Larry L. King
Peter Masterson
Based upon Sequel to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Productions 1994 Broadway


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A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with the clients.
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Fiction is the telling of stories which are not entirely based upon facts. More specifically, fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes.
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State of Texas

Flag of Texas Seal
Nickname(s): Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship.
Before Statehood Known as
The Republic of Texas

Official language(s) No official language

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Television (often abbreviated to TV, T.V., or more recently, tv; sometimes called telly, the tube, boob tube, or idiot box in British English) is a widely used telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures
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