Tag: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Theater review: ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ at the Camille Playhouse

‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ is now playing at the Camille Playhouse until Sunday September 19, 2021. Photo: Sandra Cruz

Now playing at the Camille Playhouse is ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ and after a successful opening weekend, there are only three chances left to experience this lighthearted musical. It is based on a story by Texas local legend Larry L. King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange, Texas. This happy go lucky view of small town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona’s cozy bordello until that puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution. It will run until Sunday September 19 with showtimes Friday and Saturday at 8p.m. and Sunday at 2p.m. Tickets are available online for $25. All seats are general admission.

Set in Texas, the bulk of the story takes place in the 1970s. ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ begins as Shy (Isabella Barrios) and Angel (Jocelyn Michelle) arrive at the Chicken Ranch asking for a job from Miss Mona (Velma De Los Santos), the proprietor of the place. Miss Mona likes their honesty, hires them, and gives them the rundown of the place “A Lil’ Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place.” They are getting ready for the big night of the Texas Aggies/Longhorn football-game party and on any given day, everyone from political to business leaders frequent the chicken ranch as well. This has caught the attention of Melvin P. Thorpe (Francisco Partida), a Houston TV reporter and do-gooder who is on a mission to shut them down for good “Texas Has a Whorehouse in It.” He has yet to convince Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Ronnie Rodriguez) to do so, partly because he has a relationship with Miss Mona. As a last resort, Thorpe raids the Ranch with his camera crew and proves to be highly embarrassing for everyone involved.  The Chicken Ranch is now in the public eye and is getting too much attention, so Miss Mona has no choice but to shut down the Ranch and send the girl packing.

Despite the obvious focus of the story, the general ambiance is cheerful as the audience is witness to the retelling of the demise of the Chicken Ranch. The combination of adult entertainment, catchy tunes, and political side-stepping makes for an entertaining musical. Velma De Los Santos does an excellent job of bringing Miss Mona to life onstage and has the onstage chemistry with Ronnie Rodriguez (Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd) that makes this complicated relationship work. Some of the highlights include the romping good-time of ‘The Aggie Song’ and ‘Doatsey Mae’ the poignant solo by Sylvia Lester that slows the action and shines the spotlight on a lesser known character. The cast is big, but they all work together wonderfully under the guidance of choreographers Andrew Smith and Tanya Swayze Miller (on ‘Twenty Four Hours of Lovin.’) Some of the dancing is risqué and there is some adult language involved but overall, it all makes for a “toe-tappin’” good time and the cast and crew do a fantastic job of bringing ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ to the Brownsville stage. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.
Photo: Sandra Cruz

Camille Playhouse announces new season

The Camille Playhouse announced its 58th season this week. Photo: google

This week, the Camille Playhouse in Brownsville announced its 58th season. The season consists of ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ in September, ‘Our Lady of the Tortilla’ in October, ‘Humbug’ in December, ‘Sweet Charity’ in February, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ in April, and “Lucky Stiff’ in May. Ticket information is available online. (Camille Playhouse, 2021)

‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’
September 10-19
This happy-go-lucky view of small-town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona’s cozy bordello, until that Puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution. Music and lyrics by Carol Hall; book by Larry L. King.

‘Our Lady of the Tortilla’
October 15-24
The Cruz family is volatile even in the best of times. On this particular day, Nelson, the youngest son, enters the house in a panic to hide the more obvious religious relics from the sight of his “gringo” girlfriend, who is visiting for the weekend. Nelson’s mother, Dahlia, is obsessed with retrieving her husband from his new girlfriend; Eddie, her elder son, shows up in a van with his failed life and pregnant girlfriend. But the “real” pandemonium is caused by sweet, long-suffering Dolores, Dahlia’s old-maid sister, when she sees the face of the Holy Virgin in a tortilla. This miracle brings hordes of believers and reporters to camp out on the Cruz’s lawn to await further miracles. As the family struggles with beliefs and conflicts, old and new, the endurance of family love is revealed to be the real miracle. Book by Luis Santeiro.

‘Humbug’
December 10-19
As ‘A Christmas Carol’ with a modern-day twist, Humbug follows the story of Eleanor Scrooge, a ruthlessly ambitious Wall Street executive who has an aversion to Christmas and an insatiable appetite for power. Locked in her office on a snowy Christmas Eve, Eleanor is determined to finish a corporate takeover proposal until three “advisors” provide her with an eye opening new appreciation for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. An upbeat and moving adaptation of Dickens’ holiday classic, Humbug is one for the ages. With a contemporary flair, it is a tale the whole family will enjoy. Book by John Wooten

‘Sweet Charity’
February 11-20
Inspired by Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, ‘Sweet Charity’ explores the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in New York City. With a tuneful, groovy, mid 1960s score by Cy Coleman, sparkling lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and a hilarious book by Neil Simon, ‘Sweet Charity’ captures all the energy, humor, and heartbreak of Life in the Big City for an unfortunate but irrepressible optimist.

‘Jekyll & Hyde’
April 01-10
Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic thriller, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ is the gripping tale of a brilliant mind gone horrifically awry, set to a powerful pop rock score by Frank Wildhorn with book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. In an attempt to cure his ailing father’s mental illness by separating “good” from “evil” in the human personality, talented physician Dr. Jekyll inadvertently creates an alternate personality of pure evil, dubbed Mr. Hyde, who wrecks murderous havoc on the city of London. As his fiancée Emma grows increasingly fearful for her betrothed, a prostitute, Lucy, finds herself dangerously involved with both the doctor and his alter ego. Struggling to control Hyde before he takes over for good, Jekyll must race to find a cure for the demon he has created in his own mind.

‘Lucky Stiff’
May 13-22
Based on the novel “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is an offbeat, hilarious murder mystery farce, complete with mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds, and a corpse in a wheelchair. The story revolves around an unassuming English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed in passing his uncle off as alive, Harry Witherspoon stands to inherit $6,000,000.00. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn, or else his uncle’s gun-toting ex. Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Lynn Ahrens.

The Camille Playhouse opened its doors in January 1964 after the City of Brownsville provided the land in Dean Porter Park and the Sams Foundation provided a grant to fund the construction of the facility. With a drive to stimulate interest in theatre through production of stage performances and the development and application of the arts necessary to such productions, utilizing the talents and abilities of those in the Brownsville community and neighboring communities with a passion for the art, thereby engaging audiences in the artistic process, sparking the imaginations of young children and developing the next generation of stage actors, the theater is proud to be carrying on Camille’s dream and legacy of having community theatre in Brownsville. Camille’s legacy remains the primary mission.