By Shari Barrett
Based on a true story, this thigh-slapping, good-natured, if somewhat dated musical tells of a brothel off a little dirt road near Austin that splashed small town Texas onto the front page of every newspaper, and eventually onto a Broadway stage in the 1970s as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas by Carol Hall, Larry King, and Peter Masterson. Its story explores themes of morality, freedom, and the clash between conservative values, the right to privacy, and personal choice about our own bodies and life choices.
The brothel in question was called the Chicken Ranch because the good ol’ boys who couldn’t pay real money settled their accounts with chickens. Current owner and kind-hearted madam, Miss Mona runs the ranch, pays her taxes, and otherwise minds her business. She takes care of her girls, is on good terms with local sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, and is well-respected throughout the community until a cornball TV personality from Houston starts barking at her heels, causing such a ruckus that the local politicos, most of whom were regular customers, forced the Sheriff to close the place.
Now onstage at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica directed by Kristie Mattsson, choreographed by Niko Montelibano, with Music Direction by Abby Carlson, the energetic cast of 34 features Bouket Fingerhut in a star-making turn as Miss Mona the Madam, David Callandar commands the stage as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, soulful belter Kyrsten V. Williams portrays Miss Mona’s assistant Jewel, Jazz McIlwain is Shy who transforms from an innocent young girl looking for a new job and life into a strong woman right before our eyes, and Richard Rosales as the always-sparkling media villain Melvin P. Thorpe featured with his army of flashlight-carrying followers during “Texas Has a Whorehouse in It.”
Holly Weber choreographed the entertaining Act 1 finale “The Prom” and portrays the appropriately named Ginger who knows her place is at the top of the Girls at The Ranch, Sarah Marie is Doatsy Mae the local coffee shop owner who serves up advice with pie and coffee, Amy Coles is the new girl Angel whose real purpose in life is to care for her son, Cameron Lopez is high-kicking good ole’ boy CJ Scruggs, Spencer Johnson is the Senator and Mayor who disagree on allowing a whorehouse in town, Michael Heimos is the white-suited, conservative Texas Governor Briscoe who performs “The Sidestep” with his podium, and Dorian Cheah does double duty playing Edsel Mackey and performing onstage as the guitar accompanist in several songs.
Ultimately, it’s the story of Miss Mona and her Girls earning a living by providing their services to the many guests who cross the Chicken Ranch threshold. But unfortunately, most of the Girls are written as caricatures of sex workers rather than fully-developed women with a real backstory that makes you want to root for them to succeed. And that is due to the superficial style of writers Carol Hall, Larry L. King, and Peter Masterson when it comes to character development. Thus, you are left wondering just who these young women are and how they wound up at The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And that makes it very easy to not really care about what happens to them, other than watching them cavorting with the locals or dancing up a storm during the big ensemble numbers.
So it surprised me that during the cast talkback, Director Kristie Mattsson (who also costumed the show) described how the “dynamics of the women struck her so deeply.” And yet, that was not the case in the production since all the working girls seemed to be exactly the same – as accessories to the men who hoot and holler while stomping their boots on their way inside. Choreographer Nico Montelibano and music director Abby Carlson do their best to be sure the superficial male and female characters have a great time in each other’s company while dancing in intricate patterns and high-kicking lines, or harmonizing beautifully during “No Lies” performed by Mona, Jewel, and the Girls, and their ensemble ballad “Hard Candy Christmas” after the Chicken Ranch is forced to shut its doors.
But those who just want to spend two and half hours being entertained by flashy dance numbers and more costume changes than you can count, along with many energic boot stomping moments, go see The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, produced by Cori Goldberg and Ariella Salinas Fiore (the show’s Intimacy Director), presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. Performances continue through April 6 on Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica 90404.
Reserved seat tickets range from $27 to $32, available online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/1221, by calling the box office directly at (310) 828-7519 or via email to boxoffice@morgan-wixson.org. Available tickets can be purchased in person when the box office opens thirty minutes prior to each performance. Convenient free parking is available at the Venice Family Clinic located at 2509 Pico Blvd. at 26th Street – just one block west of the theatre. Street parking is also available. Meters are free after 6 p.m. Monday – Saturday and free on Sundays and strictly enforced. Read parking restrictions carefully on neighborhood streets, and do not park at the SGI Buddhist Center, The HAUS Santa Monica, Car Nerds, or neighboring strip malls.
