‘Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ finds home at the Plaza

If ever a Broadway musical seemed right at home in Nevada ...

"If you could survey tourists for a week," says Bob Sperling, "70 percent of them would tell you they're under the impression that prostitution is legal in Las Vegas."

Legal brothels are about two hours away from the Strip, but that's closer than in most states. And close enough for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" to be a title that still surprises and teases after 34 years.

Beyond the title lies a musical offering a blend of "Broadway meets Vegas," says Matthew Resler, one of Sperling's partners on a producing team reviving the 1978 Broadway hit in the Plaza's vintage showroom, taking it full circle back to its dinner-theater days of the '70s and '80s.

This relaunch remains accurate to the letter of the script, even one that's pruned to a tight 80 minutes. But it takes visual leeway to exploit the full sexiness of the choreography and to dress the shady ladies of Miss Mona's ranch in revealing outfits that could pass for a revue such as "Peepshow."

And in some of the scenes depicting life on the farm, "there's some toplessness going on up there" in a discreet, shadowy way, says director Betty Sullivan-Cleary.

This isn't the first time "Whorehouse" has been deemed right for a casino; the Desert Inn hosted a production in 1982 under similar recession circumstances, an alternative to the pricey headliners of the day.

The musical returned briefly when a tour stopped at the Aladdin, with Ann-Margret playing madam Mona, in 2002. But there are no star names above the title this time in this cost-conscious effort with taped backing tracks.

"We looked at the shows that succeed in this town and none of them are star-based," says William Freyd of SFS Entertainment, the producing partnership with Sperling and Sullivan-Cleary.

The trio first produced the musical in 2006, as one of several titles they staged for locals in the Starbright Theatre on the edge of Summerlin. Success inspired dreams of taking "vintage Broadway" from community theater to the tourist corridor, and the partners spent two years crunching numbers.

Their timing lined up with the Plaza's relaunch last year. "This just fits, the whole package," Freyd says. "With the energy that's going into downtown Vegas, it's a question of when we get on the elevator: the ground floor or when it gets to the top?"

Freyd, a past president of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, says he knew the partners had credible reputations away from the Strip. But a needed liaison to the world of casino marketing and ticket vendors turned out to be Resler, who smiles when relating how the title still inspires a double-take -- or confusion with Nevada's real brothels -- when he tries to explain it to ticket brokers.

Anthony Cools, who oversees the showroom for the Plaza's owners, says, "I talk to bartenders who are 25 years old ... and they start laughing, like, 'What? There's a Broadway show called 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'? Yeah, I'll go check that out.' There's a whole new generation of people being exposed to it now."

The musical is based on the real story of the Chicken Ranch, a name now synonymous with Pahrump but for decades before that a Texas institution. The plot stays true to the real events of a crusading TV reporter (here played by Bruce Block or Quentin Walters) upending a longtime harmony between Miss Mona's operation and the local sheriff (Jay Joseph or Ron Smith), though it fires up some romantic heat between them.

The stage show never had a breakout hit song, though "Hard Candy Christmas" often surfaces around the holidays. Oddly enough, Dolly Parton added her hit "I Will Always Love You" to the 1982 movie version when she was starred with Burt Reynolds, but even that is better known for Whitney Houston and "The Bodyguard" 10 years later.

In lieu of familiar tunes, the musical rides on "kind of an innocent raunchiness," balanced with a bittersweetness, says Jacquelyn Holland-Wright. "We have real issues in this show," such as "getting caught up in life and missing our dreams. Not living out what your goals are."

"It's very lifelike," agrees Sullivan-Cleary. "Suddenly the rug's pulled right from underneath them," she says of the sisterhood. "It has that rolling flow. You've got your ups and downs. That rolling element in theater is what you want."

Holland-Wright -- sharing the Mona role with Kellie Wright, who played it at the Starbright in 2006 -- is happy to be back in a book musical again, after seeing "Mamma Mia!" leave town with her role of the main character, Donna.

Auditions were deep with talent that might not have been available before the Strip's hard candy years, she says. "There's a lot of people out of work out there. I'm hoping this will launch this economic face-lift here downtown.

"We're all just trying to swim," she adds. "Thank God something came around."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at
mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.