- Performances: 1,584.
- Open / Close: June 19, 1978 – March 27, 1982
- Theater: The 46th Street Theatre.
- Tony Awards: While nominated for 7 Tony Awards, this show’s two leads were the only folks who walked from the ceremony with trophies. And oddly, though they were the leads, they won for Best Featured Actor (Henderson Forsythe as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd) and Best Featured Actress (Carlin Glynn as Miss Mona). “Sweeney Todd” was the big kahoona that year so “Whorehouse” producers chose to submit their stars in the secondary category, knowing they wouldn’t win against “Sweeney”‘s leads.
- Fun Fact: Edna Milton, a former madam at the real-life Chicken Ranch, is the model for Miss Mona. It is estimated by some that Edna was taking in about $500,000 a year in gross income, mostly accumulated through fifteen-dollar, fifteen-minute customers..
Podcast
We love Dolly. Everybody loves Dolly – it is, after all, the law. But that doesn’t mean that everything she touched in her glorious life turned to gold. Exhibit A would be the movie version of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” The musical used a provocative setting to tell some heartfelt stories about the women that worked there and turned a spotlight on soulless media opportunists, hypocritical politicians, and, perhaps inadvertently, the weird fascination / fear dichotomy in the American approach to sex.
The movie, well, did not. Sure, you still have self-important media moralist Melvin P. Thorpe disrupting the operations of the Chicken Ranch until it is forced to shut down, but the complex, grown-up take on some of the show’s relationships –particularly between the whorehouse madam Mona and Sheriff Ed Earl — are completely missing.
Originally from Richmond, VA, Susann Fletcher made her Broadway debut in “Whorehouse,” about halfway through the run and maintains relationships with many of the key folks who brought “Whorehouse” to life. She has a fleet of stories and even more great opinions on the show and why this show has kinda been done dirty by history.
Here is a link to the history and analysis of the development of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” written by Scott Miller for New Line Theatre mentioned in the episode.