Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The (1978), a musical comedy by Larry L. King, Peter Masterson (book), Carol Hall (music, lyrics). [Entermedia Theatre, 1,576 perf.] For decades the Chicken Ranch, where clients could pay in produce, has been a perfectly respectable brothel. Currently operated by Miss Mona Stangley (Carlin Glynn), who keeps her girls strictly in line, it numbers among its friends Sheriff Dodd (Henderson Forsythe) as well as notable politicians and football players. But “Watchdog” Thorpe (Clint Allmon), a self‐glorifying regional television preacher, takes aim against the establishment and before long another fine old Texas tradition bites the dust. Notable songs: Twenty Fans; Bus from Amarillo; Hard Candy Christmas; Good Old Girl. Based on a real incident, the musical was so well received at its Off‐Broadway premiere that it was immediately hustled to Broadway's 46th Street Theatre for a long run. Reasonably good, if raunchy, fun, the show offered a country‐and‐western‐style score and Tommy Tune's inventive staging. A sequel entitled The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public (1994) retained much of the creative staff of the original but closed quickly.

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.