Chicken Ranch anniversary: CLOSURE!

On this date in 1973, the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel of La Grange, Texas, closed its doors for good. The closure followed a week (give or take--it's been tough to pin down exact dates) of broadcasts by Houston TV station KTRK's consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler, accusing the brothel of corruption and conspiracy. The Chicken Ranch had survived attempts to close it before, but the white-hot media spotlight proved too much for it. Today marks the 51st anniversary of its closure.

In 2024, however, another milestone was reached, with the official release of the revised, updated and expanded 50th anniversary edition of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse. The six years I put into researching and writing the first edition (published in 2016) and the additional work I invested in the newer edition seems to have paid off as far as critics are concerned, with the book's reception being as close to across-the-board positive as is reasonably possible. I still think it's one of the weirdest stories to ever come out of Texas, as state that bases its entire identity on weird mythology.

Just a reminder--book reviews help tremendously. If you've read Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch and are willing to do so, even a short sentence or two on Amazon, Goodreads or other online book site would help get the book in front of new eyes and spread awareness. Thanks!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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The Chicken Ranch looks at fifty

Fifty years ago today the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel of La Grange, Texas, closed forever. If you're a regular around here, you may know I wrote a book about it. Unsurprisingly, Texas media has put together a number of stories to mark the occasion. There's one here. And here. And here. I'm sure there will be more before the day's out.

Honestly, 50 years is a long time. That a small, no-frills country brothel generated such attention at the time of its closure and continues to maintain a grip on the public's imagination half a century later confounds all logic. I feel like I should write something profound but averything that comes to mind strikes me as trite. I don't actually remember the closure--I was three years old at the time, after all. Instead, I share below an excerpt from the book, chapter 12 to be specific. It may not qualify as profound but I like to think it is insightful and offers a more detailed an nuanced account of the actual events that transpired 50 years ago than anything else that's likely to appear online today:

“Why don’t you call Sheriff Flournoy yourself, Dolph?” Colonel Speir suggested out of the blue.

As the trying day turned into an equally trying night, Governor Briscoe continued to talk with Colonel Speir to find some way out of the impasse. During their discussion, the governor—a long-time South Texas rancher—realized he’d known Big Jim from way back, when the sheriff worked as the foreman of the McGill Brothers Ranch. Big Jim clearly resented outside interference in what he considered a strictly local matter, but Marvin had shone a glaring spotlight on it. Clearly, things could never go back to the wink-and-nod tolerance of before. The sheriff didn’t accept that the DPS had any authority over him, but if Governor Briscoe himself gave the order...

“Sheriff, it’s just too much. We’ll just have to close it down,” Governor Briscoe said as soon as he got Big Jim on the line.

“You know, there’s a lot of furniture out there and we have to get those girls moved out,” Big Jim answered in his slow drawl. “Why don’t you let us run two more weeks just to let things taper off?”

“No sheriff, you’re just going to have to shut it down. That’s all there is to it. There’s too much heat. Everybody’s embarrassed by this thing,” Governor Briscoe said. “Sheriff, I am ordering you to close what is known as the Chicken Ranch.”

Big Jim paused a long moment, then answered with a simple, tired, “Okay.”

“He and I both knew that I had no authority to order him to close the place, but it was a practical way for us to get the law enforced in that county,” Governor Briscoe said later. “For several days afterward I kept waiting for someone to point out that I had no legal authority to close the place down, but no one did.”

All that remained was for Big Jim to inform Miss Edna, a phone call he loathed to make. Miss Edna’s nephew, Robert Kleffman, was visiting the evening of July 31 when his aunt disappeared into her office to take the call. When she returned, her mood was grim.

“She said, ‘Dang it Robert, Mr. Jim’s got to shut us down. He’s got to. The Governor’s on his way,’” Kleffman said. “She sent all the girls home except for two. I went and got a shirt—Edna’d bought me some new shirts, she was always buying me clothes—and I pulled the cardboard out of it and I drew the block letters of CLOSED. I stuck it on the front screen door with a bobby pin and shut the door and locked it.

“Edna had everybody get their cars and took ’em around back. In a little bit, there was a knock on the door, and we just didn’t answer it,” he said. “We sat back in the back. There was a bottle of Cold Duck, and me and those two girls sat back there drinking that bottle of grape juice, watching TV in the dining room.

“Edna sat back there, kinda daydreaming and looking out the window, thinking the way she does. We just refused to answer the door,” he said. “That was the end of it, because we were told the Governor and the Texas Rangers—that’s the story as I remember it—were coming down and were going to close the place. So we just put a closed sign on the front and didn’t answer. We made like we weren’t there.”

The news hit Miss Edna like a ton of bricks. She sent the few customers there that night home, then called the girls together and told them the story. Most of the women packed their bags that night and left by morning.

“One or two little girls—they were young but they were not kids—I got tickled with them. They came in and got in my lap and put their arms around my shoulders and neck and everything. I had to kind of grin,” Miss Edna said, smiling at the bittersweet memory. “It was sweet of them, you know. They’d been there long enough where I was family to them. Those little girls, I’ll remember forever.

“Later, another one came in I wasn’t expecting and did the same thing, nearly. It wasn’t quite rehearsed, but nevertheless it could’ve been,” she said. “If something had happened and I could’ve reopened and gotten those girls back... well, I wouldn’t have made pets out of them, but it would’ve been hard for me to ever raise hell with them [if they misbehaved].”

Despite all of Marvin’s publicity, Miss Edna never truly believed the Chicken Ranch might close down. Since the brothel claimed origins dating back to the 1840s—before Texas became a state—she believed the Chicken Ranch had a grandfathered exemption to any modern anti-prostitution laws. Armed with that, as well as a long list of powerful business and political clients that stretched from Austin to Washington, D.C., she considered fighting the order that long, dark night following Big Jim’s call. Even if she didn’t win, she could bring a whole bunch of cowardly hypocrites down with her—and probably take out half the Texas legislature and congressional delegations. By morning, though, Miss Edna threw in the towel.

“The whole damn thing, in a nut shell, was that I didn’t want to keep it open and I sure didn’t want to guilt somebody to mess up or sell to somebody even if they got somebody to finance it or otherwise. I was just tired,” Miss Edna said. “It needed more hours than is humanly possible for a person to do. If you’re putting in 14, 16 and 18 some days 20 hours. You get a little tired after a while. And it doesn’t take very many years to kill you.

“After awhile you get so tired, and I did. Toward the last, so damn tired of everything. I was ready to get the hell out of there,” she said. “If I hadn’t been so terribly tired I might’ve fought them, to keep it open. But I was just tired.”

~excerpted from Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse 50th anniversary edition.

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Sad Chicken Ranch news

July has not been a kind month for Chicken Ranch alumni. Specifically, those folks connected to the famed brothel through the mega-successful Broadway musical, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Carlin Glynn, who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Miss Mona Stangley (which was based on real-life madam Edna Milton Chadwell) died on July 13 at the age of 83 after battling dementia and cancer.

That's Glynn on the right, facing Edna Milon (left). This was a publicity shot Milton gave me from the musical. The production wanted to promote the fact that Glynn and Milton looked similar. They really don't look very similar but I suppose when the alternative Miss Mona is Dolly Parton, this bit of trivia becomes much more plausible.

Obituaries have led with the fact that she played the mother to Molly Ringwald's character in the 1980s John Hughes teen film "Sixteen Candles." She's also the real-life mother to actor Mary Stuart Masterson, who she had with husband Peter Masterson--who co-authored the book to Whorehouse on Broadway and shared background information on that whole experience with me for my book (Peter Masterson died in 2018). Glynn's first film role was in "Three Days of the Condor" but what jumped out at me was that she played First Lady Meg Tresch in the 1987-88 Fox sitcom "Mr. President" opposite George C. Scott in the title role. I remember watching this at a teen and liking it quite a bit, but also realizing that the series was never as good as it should've been with all the talent involved.

The other big loss is that of Pamela Blair, who originated the role of Angel in "The Best Little Whorehouse..." If you've seen the play, you'll know the role is much more substantial than the blink-and-you'll-miss-her role from the movie. Angel shows up at the Chicken Ranch early on, a jaded sex worker who's cynical and has abandoned any effort at nuance (that's her in the center of the image to the left). She undergoes a significant character arc through the play and by the end leads the cast through the finale of "Hard Candy Christmas," vowing at the end to leave prostitution behind her for good. Here's a fun bit of trivia for you: Angel was originally named Amber in the script, but the name was changed at Edna's insistence. Masterson and co-author Larry L. King hand found some discarded letters in the trash pile at the Chicken Ranch and used the names from those letters for the characters in the play. Edna thought that an invasion of the women's privacy and would have none of it.

Despite the success of Angel in "Whorehouse," Blair is better known for originating the role of Val in "A Chorus Line" two years prior. Her other Broadway credits include "Mighty Aphrodite," "Of Mice and Men" and "A Few Good Men." She also had stints on the daytime soap operas Ryan's Hope and All My Children.

Blair died July 23 from complications related to Clippers disease. She was 73.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Sheriff T.J. Flournoy (1902-1982)

On this date in 1982, Fayette County Sheriff T.J. "Jim" Flournoy died at the age of 80. Big Jim, as he was known, was the longest-serving sheriff in Fayette County history, had a two-year run as a Texas Ranger during World War II and several stints as a deputy in various jurisdictions. He shot to fame, of course, by defending the Chicken Ranch brothel when KTRK-TV newsman Marvin Zindler campaigned to shut it down. Zindler returned to La Grange on December 30, 1974 to do a follow-up story, and that's where he encountered Sheriff Flournoy. The altercation ended with the Sheriff stomping on Zindler's toupée in the middle of the street, and Zindler heading back to Houston with several cracked ribs. Lawsuits flew back and forth for years, before the two eventually settled out of court.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Sheriff T.J. Flournoy (1902-1982)

On this date in 1982, Fayette County Sheriff T.J. "Jim" Flournoy died at the age of 80. Big Jim, as he was known, was the longest-serving sheriff in Fayette County history, had a two-year run as a Texas Ranger during World War II and several stints as a deputy in various jurisdictions. He shot to fame, of course, by defending the Chicken Ranch brothel when KTRK-TV newsman Marvin Zindler campaigned to shut it down. Zindler returned to La Grange on December 30, 1974 to do a follow-up story, and that's where he encountered Sheriff Flournoy. The altercation ended with the Sheriff stomping on Zindler's toupée in the middle of the street, and Zindler heading back to Houston with several cracked ribs. Lawsuits flew back and forth for years, before the two eventually settled out of court.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Happy birthday, Marvin Zindler!

On this date in 1921, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler was born.

Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. Marvin clashed with his father (who owned the well-regarded Zindler's clothing store in Houston) growing up and went on to try his hand at a host of different career options. He was a drum major (briefly) at Tarleton State, served in the Marines (again, briefly) before being discharged as 4F, was a radio reporter for defunct Houston radio station KATL, was a reporter for the defunct Houston Press, ran for mayor of Bellaire, was fired by one TV station because he was "too ugly for television" and was a Harris County deputy sheriff for years, where he worked in civil fraud and fugitive extradition before setting up the consumer fraud division.

Had he not died of pancreatic cancer in 2007, Zindler would've been 99 today.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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They're gonna romp! And stomp!

I haven't posted much here about the Chicken Ranch lately (or really, much of anything--life intervenes) but I've got a good one to share today. This evening I shall be making the short drive up to Wimberley to take in the Wimbeley Players' production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. As is my wont with these things, I shall be arriving early and staying late to answer questions from the audience, cast, crew and random passers-by about the real Chicken Ranch and the shenanigans that went on there back in the day. It's always a good time, but I'm just the sideshow here--the play's the thing, and I've heard excellent buzz about this production. If you've only ever seen the theatrical version with Burt and Dolly, I strongly encourage you to check out the play if you can. There's so much here that the movie simply ignored, and that's a shame. Most of the run is sold out, but give the box office a call, as they may have a few tickets squirreled away here or there.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Burt Reynolds (1936-2018)

Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd has left the building.

Burt Reynolds, who played the combative sheriff in the big-screen adaptation of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, died today in Florida at the age of 82. In recent years, he'd looked increasingly frail during his in-person appearances, so I can't say I'm terribly surprised by this news. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy of work.

For anyone born after, say, 1980, it's hard to fathom just how big a star he was in the late 1970s/early 1980s. After getting his start in television, Reynolds shot to stardom with 1972's Deliverance. The 1977 mega-hit Smokey and the Bandit elevated him to a whole other level. Reynolds, already an 800-pound gorilla in Hollywood, grew to be an 8,000-pound gorilla after that. He was the star, and his involvement could make or break a project.

That star power is what ultimately landed him the role of Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd in the film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas--bumping Willie Nelson from the role, despite the fact that Reynolds couldn't sing. Here's the Dolly Parton-penned "Where Stallions Run," which was cut from the film:

This song was added back for the TV broadcast to make up for the time cut because of swear words and nudity. Seriously. In this case, Reynolds' involvement probably didn't do the production any favors. The film was happening with or without his involvement, but to secure his cooperation, Reynolds demanded a lot of changes to the script: More action and more romance with co-star Dolly Parton. Larry King, who co-wrote the Broadway play and original Playboy article everything was based on, angrily complained complained of the changes, "They just want to make Smokey and the Bandit Go to a Whorehouse!" And really, Reynolds looked nothing like Sheriff Jim Flournoy, upon whom then part was based.

Still, Reynolds was a big deal. I remember back in the early 80s in elementary school hearing that Burt Reynolds was filming a movie in nearby Hallettsville. Wow! Hollywood was practically next door! My friends who had brothers in high school talked about riding over there to watch production. Excited, when I got home I asked my folks to take me to Hallettsville. "No," came the answer. Well then, can we at least watch the movie when it comes out? "No," came the answer again. But why? "Because of the title," my parents answered, refusing to explain what a whorehouse was. Several decades later, I think I've figured that part out on my own:

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TexARTS' Best Little Whorehouse

Hey, folks! I've got a quick reminder that this Sunday, August 20, I'll be conducting a Q&A with the audience following TexARTS' 2 p.m. matinee performance of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The show's going on in Lakeway, which is on Lake Travis just a few miles west of Austin, so all you Central Texas folks who've only ever seen the Burt Reynolds movie version need to check this one out. I guarantee the stage play is a lot funnier with a bunch more heart than the film.

I also just received the following images (taken by Karla Ent) from the good folks over at TexARTS, which are too good not to share!

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a political satire full of flirty fun and gusto. Based on a true story, the show recounts the heyday and demise of the infamous "Chicken Ranch." The real-life story made national headlines in the 1970’s when investigative reporter Marvin Zindler started a crusade to shut the infamous house that had been in operation for more than a century. The cornball TV personality from Houston caused such a primetime ruckus that the local politicos, most of whom were regular customers, forced the Sheriff to close down the legendary institution.

The cast features Christina Stroup as Miss Mona, the classy yet brassy madam with a heart of gold. Jarret Mallon as Ed Earl, the hotheaded, celebrated cussin’ Sheriff joins her. The cast includes Joe Falocco (Melvin P. Thorpe), Roderick Sanford (Jewel), Yanis Kalnins (Governor), Zach Thompson (Senator Wingwoah), Corinna Browning (Doatsy Mae), Lauren DeFilippo (Angel) and Kristin DeGroot (Shy). The company features Emily McIntyre, Lara Wright, Lindsay Palinsky, Kaitlin Street, Thomas Griffin Williams, Nathan Daniel Ford, Michael Wheeler, J. Dylan Gibson and Ryan Alvarado.

Christina Stroup as Miss Mona

Lara Wright, Kaitlin Street, Lindsay Palinsky, Emily McIntyre, Christina Stoup (background) (Ladies of the "Chicken Ranch")

Ryan Alvarado, Thomas Griffin Williams, Nathan Daniel Ford and J. Dylan Gibson (The Texas Aggies)

The company of TexARTS' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Joe Falocco (Melvin P. Thorpe), Yanis Klanins (Governor) and the company

The Company of TexARTS' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

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Marvin Zindler's birthday, plus Whorehouse comes to Austin!

On this date in 1921, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler was born.

Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. Marvin clashed with his father (who owned the well-regarded Zindler's clothing store in Houston) growing up and went on to try his hand at a host of different career options. He was a drum major (briefly) at Tarleton State, served in the Marines (again, briefly) before being discharged as 4F, was a radio reporter for defunct Houston radio station KATL, was a reporter for the defunct Houston Press, ran for mayor of Bellaire, was fired by one TV station because he was "too ugly for television" and was a Harris County deputy sheriff for years, where he worked in civil fraud and fugitive extradition before setting up the consumer fraud division.

Had he not died of pancreatic cancer in 2007, Zindler would've been 96 today.

In other news, TexARTS in Lakeway (that's just west of Austin on Lake Travis) has a production of that particular Chicken Ranch musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, running August 18-September 3. For their 2 p.m. matinee performance August 20, TexARTS will host me for a post-show Q&A session. Stay after the show and learn more about the real-life saga that turned into a Broadway musical hit! And seriously, folks, if you've never seen the stage play--if all you know is that Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton film--you don't know what you're missing. The live show is an entirely different animal, and for my money, about 10 times better than the movie. Get your tickets today for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas presented by TexARTS at http://www.tex-arts.orb>tex-arts.org.

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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Best Little Whorehouse update

Okay, there's not been a whole lot of news regarding the proposed Broadway revival of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but I've got a few interesting things to share. Firstly--and this has nothing to do with Broadway--but the Theatre Company of Bryan/College Station is staging its version of the musical August 5-21. It makes me smile to think they'll be performing "The Aggie Song" in Aggieland. Too bad the Fighting Texas Aggie Marching Band doesn't ever perform it at halftime! And don't forget, the Whorehouse run continues through August 7 at the Playhouse San Antonio, where I'll be discussing the real history of the Chicken Ranch prior to matinee performances on Sundays.

All that's well and good, but what about Broadway? Glad you asked! Last month, we learned that Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Holliday (that's them being cute in the photo above), Kevin McKidd and a bunch of other Broadway regulars had table reading for uber-director Rob Ashford. That kind of star-power doesn't gather together on a whim, so we've been left wondering. Last week, Chenoweth finally broke radio silence, a little, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "I did a reading of Best Little Whorehouse with my director for Promises, Promises [Rob Ashford]. I love just singing that score that Carol Hall wrote. And Jennifer Holliday was a part of that and kicks butt. Just watching her do her thing I cried. I was just happy we got to kind of see if it has a life." She said she thought financing was in place but was non-committal about the revival's prospects beyond that.

Still, not many tea leaves there to read... until this week, when Chenoweth again dropped an indirect hint about the project: According to Lancaster Online, Chenoweth has rescheduled to January 21 a concert originally slated for October 9. "So?" you say. "Concerts are rescheduled all the time." True, but the key line in the story gives the reason for the postponement as "a new Broadway commitment." Whorehouse is the only active proto-production she is currently associated with (not counting her perpetually in development play about Tammy Faye Bakker, which is currently undergoing rewrites).

So, yay! Whorehouse returning to the Broadway stage would expand my book's market to the northeast and potentially open up New York media to me and prompt bookstores there, which wouldn't give it a second look before, to stock it. That would be utterly fantastic. So yeah, my fingers are crossed. Hopefully, we'll hear a lot more news about the Chicken Ranch and The Best Little Whorehouse sooner rather than later.

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Chicken Ranch report no. 75: We've got media!

Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the talented Karen Brooks Harper of the Dallas Observer, and the result is the quite excellent article Author Jayme Blaschke Is Setting the Record Straight on Texas' Most Famous Brothel. Unfortunately, the tragic sniper attack on Dallas police threw the publishing plans into disarray, so I do not know if it will appear in this week's edition, next week's, or ever. Them's the breaks. On the upside, it's readily available for anyone to read online at their leisure:

It is perhaps a defining characteristic of Texas Chicken Ranch: When it comes to Texas’ most famous whorehouse, people apparently enjoy being in the dark.

In its bedrooms. In the telling of its history. On stage and on the silver screen.

But a Texas writer is turning on the lights in the story of the Lone Star State’s iconic brothel, unearthing for the first time what he says is the true history of the La Grange “boarding house” — steeped until now in fables told by whispering locals and far-away Hollywood characters.

Not too shabby, eh? I've got a couple more potentially nice media pieces coming out soon, so stay tuned for those. In the meantime, I'd like to remind everyone that I'm making in-person appearances at the Sunday matinee performance of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Playhouse San Antonio, where I'll be discussing my book, Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, and talking about this historical brothel and how its closing inspired the play. But don't just come to see me--the musical is a whole heck of a lot of fun, as I wrote earlier. But don't just take my word for it: The San Antonio Express-News gave it a glowing review, and BroadwayWorld give it a rave recommendation--albeit grudgingly. So come on out and say howdy! You won't be sorry!

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The Best Little Whorehouse in San Antonio

Last night The Wife and I attended the opening night performance of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Playhouse San Antonio. Let me just cut to the chase and tell you it was a whole hack of a lot of fun. If you've only ever seen the movie version with Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds, you owe it to yourself to see the original* version as it was intended. It's a lot funnier with way more emotional resonance.

The Playhouse's production runs Friday-Sunday from now until August 7. As an added bonus, yours truly will be at each Sunday matinee to discuss the real, historical Chicken Ranch and the hijinks that inspired the musical. Anyone who wants to discuss Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, well, I'll talk about that, too. I ended up in a few conversations last night, and people were fascinated by the history behind the play, so it should be a lot of fun!

But what about the play itself? First I want to clarify that * above. This is not, technically, the original version that ran for more than 1,500 performances on Broadway. Instead, it is essentially the national touring show reworked for Ann-Margret in 1981. This version has some altered dialog and the song order is rearranged--notably, Miss Mona's elegiac solo, "Bus From Amarillo," which traditionally closes the opening act, instead closes the show. I've never felt this works, as the original finale, "Hard Candy Christmas," is the play's best-known song and anything that comes after is something of a letdown. Following a slow, bittersweet song with a slower, sadder song of missed opportunities results in diminishing returns. Another significant change is the insertion of "Watchdog Report" into the middle of "Texas Has A Whorehouse In It." It's not a bad change, as the two songs are always performed together, but it doesn't add anything and strikes me as change for the sake of change. Curiously, despite using the 2001 version of the play, the Playhouse chose not to use the new song, "A Friend to Me," Carol Hall wrote specifically for that production. The 2001 version also inexplicably makes one of the Aggie football players a foreign student with an indecipherable accent. This is, I suppose, meant to be "wacky" and leave the audience in stitches. In practice, it's annoying as hell and makes no sense. Just so you know.

The Playhouse's production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is uneven and a bit rough around the edges, as regional theatre often is. But make no mistake, there's a lot to like here. Again, it's much more entertaining than the film version, and I'd take Sara Brooks and Bob Galindo's Miss Mona Stangley and Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd over Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds any day of the week. Amanda Tudor steals practically every scene she's in as the awkward, naive would-be prostitute Shy. Elise Lopez's Doatsey Mae solo comes out of nowhere (even though I knew it was coming) and leaves the audience rapt. Ronald Watson's side-stepping Governor is gloriously smarmy and self-aware. Vicky Liendo, as Jewel, absolutely dominates every song she gets with possibly the strongest voice of the entire cast. David Blazer's Melvin P. Thorpe--taking his fashion cues more from Dom Deluise than the real-life Marvin Zindler--is hilariously over-the-top, sporting some of the best comic timing I've seen in the character. The orchestra keeps the music flowing at a nice clip and the entire might was filled with non-stop laughter.

I've previously seen The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas live in Houston, as produced by Theatre Under the Stars. Being the home town of Marvin Zindler, obviously the Houston audience was primed for the story. Despite that, the only real difference I noticed between the two audiences came when Miss Mona talked about a weekend getaway to Galveston, where she marveled at the "crystal blue waters" of the Gulf of Mexico or somesuch. The Houston audience guffawed, as Galveston's waters are notoriously brown. That joke slipped by San Antonians unnoticed.

The only thing that didn't work was the Angelette's march. The original play uses inflatable dolls to highlight the crass hypocrisy of sideline T&A being an acceptable part of the American college and professional sports experience, while the more restrained, out-of-sight lust of the Chicken Ranch was denigrated. That's traded for the women of the ensemble doing a simple dance step routine, which is awkward and serves no purpose other than to fill time. Fortunately, the segment lasts only a few minutes and is quickly forgotten.

So go, go now and see The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the Playhouse in San Pedro Park. It's a lovely, intimate venue with talented, enthusiastic performers eager to entertain. You won't be sorry you did.

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The Best Little Whorehouse rides again!

It should come as a surprise to exactly no one that I have Google alerts set up for any news media mention of the Chicken Ranch and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. This gets me a lot of school lunch menus ("chicken ranch wrap") but occasionally something interesting shows up, such as that time in 2014 when my in-box filled up with alerts about a new Broadway revival of Whorehouse. Surprisingly, the play has never returned to Broadway following its initial record-breaking run (although a sequel, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, made it through 16 performances in 1994), although numerous regional performances and a national tour headlined by Ann-Margret have kept the show in continuous production. The revival was to be headed up by none other than Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Rob Ashford, and would debut sometime in 2015.

And then... nothing. Ashford spent most of 2015 in the UK working on an number of projects with Kenneth Branagh, none of which involved whorehouses or Texas. I finally got a publishing deal for my book, and rewrote a bit in the final chapter to make only a vague reference to the proposed play. It seemed like Whorehouse revival was one of many announced projects that would come to naught. Until, that is, last week, when a cryptic news alert popped up saying Kristin Chenoweth would participate in a reading of Whorehouse. There wasn't much else to go along with that, but my interest was piqued. Then yesterday, my in-box exploded with this and this and this and this. Wow. Those certainly filled in more of the blanks. It looks like we may be getting our Whorehouse revival after all!

So let's break this down, shall we? Chenoweth headed up a "private industry reading" yesterday, filling the role of Miss Mona. Presumably, news of the "private" reading was intentionally leaked to the media to start building buzz for the production. I suppose it worked. The reading was at the behest of Ashford, the only directorial talent associated thus far with the revival and apparently still in on the project. Readings are the first step toward fleshing out a production, which choreography and set design and all the other fun stuff coming later. Chenoweth's one of the biggest Broadway stars working today, so it's safe to say that she's not just filling is as a placeholder--this thing is finally moving forward, and Chenoweth is the new incarnation of Miss Mona Stangley. This is interesting casting, apart from that Chenoweth's popularity makes her an obvious choice. She's from Oklahoma, the same as Chicken Ranch madam Edna Milton was. And she's roughly the same age as Miss Edna when the place closed down. Unlike the originator of the role, Carlin Glynn, an actress who learned to sing for the part, Chenoweth's got serious vocal range. She'll certainly do better in the role than Ann-Margret, whose vocal performance in the national touring show was regrettable, to say the least.

The rest of the listed cast for the reading is interesting as well. The name that jumped out to me was Kevin McKidd as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd. I have no idea if McKidd can sing or not (I'd cast Lyle Lovett, actually, had I any say in the matter) but HOLY MOLY LUCIUS VORENUS IS GONNA BE THE SHERIFF! I absolutely adored Rome, and in many, many ways it paved the way for HBO's Game of Thrones. The one thing that gives me pause is his age--he's only in his early 40s, and actually younger than Chenoweth. That's a bit disconcerting, as the sheriff in the play (and reality) was significantly older. I hope they're not trying to recapture the magic of Burt Reynolds from the film (that's sarcasm there).

Another big name attached is Jennifer Holliday, who hit the big time on Broadway starring in Dreamgirls back in the 80s. She won a Tony award for her performance and launched a successful R&B singing career, picking up a Grammy in 1983. I guarantee she's gonna knock the hell out of "Twenty-Four Hours of Lovin'" on stage. Other participants in the reading include Christopher Sieber as Melvin P. Thorpe, James Naughton as the Governor, Kerry Butler as Doatsey Mae, Heléne Yorke as Angel, Madeline Brewer as Shy and Greg Hildreth as Mayor Rufus Poindexter. And that's just the main roles--various Aggies, Chicken Ranch ladies, Angelettes and the like are also listed in various reports. The long and short of this is that one doesn't assemble so much talent together for a private, one-off "Our Gang" type of show. This isn't Spanky, Darla and Alfalfa up on an orange crate stage singing "Hello, hello, hello, we hope you like our show!" This thing is really happening, Twitter is abuzz and the fact that we know all about it is a huge sign that their promotional team is kicking it into gear.

The original run of Whorehouse lasted 1,584 performances in the 46th Street Theatre, a record that stands today. Interestingly enough, that venue, now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre, is currently host to the uber-smash Hamilton, an odds-on favorite to break that Whorehouse record in a few years. Even so, with this cast and director, plus its decades-long absence from Broadway, I expect this new incarnation of Whorehouse to be a huge hit. And maybe, just maybe, the theatre's souvenir/memorabilia shop will stock Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse alongside tee-shirts, caps, programs and posters. At least, that's my dream. A run of 1,584 performances would translate into a whole heck of a lot of books sold, wouldn't it?

If you can't wait for the Broadway premiere and you live in Central Texas, you're in luck, because the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio is gearing up for its own production of Whorehouse, with opening night just a little more than a week away:

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Chicken Ranch report no. 74: Dolph Briscoe and more!

On this date in 2010, former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe died at the age of 87 at his home in Uvalde. He was the last Texas governor to serve a two-year term and the first to serve a four-year term. He once appointed a dead man to a state commission but is probably best known for his role in shutting down the Chicken Ranch brothel.

In other news, Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouseis now available as an ebook for Kindle! So all of you cutting-edge types who've put dead tree books behind you may now pre-order the digital version.

Finally, I have one more pretty cool announcement. San Antonio's San Pedro Playhouse is staging a production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starting July 8 and running through August 7. Awesome, right? But here's where it gets even better: I will be there before the 3 p.m. Sunday matinee performances July 10, 17, 24, 31 and August 7, discussing all things Chicken Ranch, giving away some nifty goodies and maybe, just maybe, selling some advanced copies of my book before the official release date! Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone!

In any event, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a fantastic musical and a rollicking good time. If you've only ever seen the uneven Dolly Parton film version, you owe it to yourself to hie thee over to the Playhouse and see the original version. See you there!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is now listed on both Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com for pre-order.

Title: Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse
Author: Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Publication Date: August 1, 2016
ISBN: 978.1.46713.563.4

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch is still available:

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch by Jayme Blaschke & Lisa Blaschke

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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas rides again!

Friends and neighbors, if you were broken up about missing the Theatre Under the Stars' production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas staged at Houston's Miller Outdoor Theatre last month (and really, you have every right to be. I was fortunate enough to be a guest for their production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas during it's run at the Hobby Center in 2012, and it was downright fantastic!) then do I have good news for you! News broke yesterday that the Tony Award-winning musical is getting its very own Broadway revival! This marks the first time the show's been performed on Broadway since the original 1978 production enjoyed a spectacular run of 1,584 shows.

Now wait a cotton-picking minute, you're probably thinking to yourself right now. If you know your Whorehouse history (and you know you do) you're looking at your Ann-Margret soundtrack and saying, "But Jayme! What about Ann-Margret's successful run as Miss Mona circa 2001-2002? I didn't just imagine that, did I?" You, you certainly did not. You are correct the immortal Ann-Margret headlined a successful re-staging of Whorehouse, along with Gary Sandy of WKRP in Cincinnati fame as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd. The original play's songwriter, Carol Hall, even penned a new song, "A Friend to Me," for Ann-Margret. It was kind of a big deal. The thing is, that was a national touring show. It played pretty much everywhere except Broadway.

So what do we know about this new show? Not much, actually. It's more or less the same show Larry L. King, Peter Masterson, Carol Hall and Tommy Tune struck it two-thirds rich with (as King liked to say) back in 1978. The announced director/choreographer is Rob Ashford, a big name in Broadway circles. He's got Tony, Emmy and Olivier awards on his mantlepiece, so it's hard to argue with his credentials. He was the creative force behind “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” with Daniel Radcliffe, "Macbeth" with Kenneth Branagh, “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Rachel Weisz, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and the 81st Academy Awards. Other than that, little information has been released--no theatre, dates or actors are known.

On the bright side, there continues to be no movement on Universal's remake of the mediocre 1982 film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. While it's hard to imagine the remake could do much worst than Burt Reynolds singing, the fact that the producers, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, are the folks who gave us the Twilight movies. I can see it now: All the prostitutes sparkle beautifully in sunlight.

Enough of the history lesson, Jayme (you're saying to yourself right now, I'll wager). Tell us what's really important--how does this impact your book on the history of the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, Texas? In all honesty, it doesn't. At least, not directly. The history and the entertainment are two different things, and apart from broad strokes, are pretty much separate animals. Where this could help me is in raising the public awareness of the Chicken Ranch. As the Broadway production ramps up, more and more folks are going to grow curious about the real story behind the infamous brothel. If the run is successful and the revival earns some Tony Award nominations--maybe even winning a few--then that exposure is multiplied. Anyone with a comprehensive book out on the subject could stand to capitalize on the ensuing publicity quite nicely. At least, that's what I'm telling the editors currently considering my book.

Hollywood Reporter: 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' Sets Broadway Return in 2015
Variety: ‘Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ Heads Back to Broadway
Playbill: Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Will Stomp Its Way Back to Broadway, Run by Rob Ashford
Broadway.com: The Chicken Ranch reopens! The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Will Return to Broadway
USA Today: Rob Ashford to helm new 'Whorehouse' on Broadway
Star Tribune: Revival of sex romp musical 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' coming to Broadway
Dan Cirucci: 'Whorehouse' On Broadway? Yes, It Opens In 2015!

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Talkin' with Pete Masterson

So I finally got to interview Pete Masterson today for the Chicken Ranch book. Masterson, you may or may not know, is an actor/director/writer with a long and productive career on stage and screen. What he's probably best-know for, though, is the fact that he co-wrote the book for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Larry L. King.

I'd been trying to arrange an interview with him for several months, but every time we got something set up, conflicts arose either on his end or mine and we ended up canceling. Until today, at least, when we finally connected. He's a nice guy, and was willing to talk to me as long as I needed. Nothing earth-shaking came out of the conversation, but he did confirm many of the events King recounted in his excellent book, The Whorehouse Papers. Masterson had several amusing stories, chief of which was the fact that it was his idea to bring in Edna Milton, the last madam at the Chicken Ranch, to be part of the Broadway production in a non-speaking role. During rehearsals, Masterson said, Milton would sometimes lean over and suggest lines for the actresses portraying the prostitutes to say. He nearly fell over, he recalled. Edna, apparently, had quite a mouth on her...

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The Chicken Ranch: Ocho

I am shamed to admit I am remiss in my writing efforts regarding the Chicken Ranch. For these past two months, I have focused so intently on the one-month period in which Marvin Zindler's expose resulted in the shuttering of that long-standing brothel that I have utterly neglected the preceding 100-plus years of history. Although Edna Milton served as madam at the end, she was not the longest-tenured woman in that position. That title belonged to Faye Stewart, better know as Miss Jessie Williams. She is the woman who consolidated the various prostitution ventures in La Grange and moved the operation out of town. She presided over the brothel when it earned it's famous name. She established goodwill and a working relationship with the county sheriff's office. It would not be unjustified to begin this tale with her:

While the previous century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Jessie’s Fashionable Boarding House for young ladies, past the Bad Curve sign, a large farm wagon, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat farmer in sweat-stained coveralls, at the rate of four miles an hour. A black sharecropper, who reposed on the wagon behind the fat farmer, uncurled his bandy legs as soon as the equipage drew up opposite Miss Jessie’s new screen door, and as he pulled the bell at least a score of young heads were seen peering out of the narrow windows of the white clapboard house. Nay, the acute observer might have recognized the little red nose of stern-natured Miss Jessie Williams herself, stubbing out a cigarette in the window of that madam's own parlour.

As always, this is a work in progress. Feedback is always encouraged. In case you missed 'em, here are my previous installments:
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Version 6
Version 5
Version 4
Version 3
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The Chicken Ranch: Lucky no. 7

As I continue my quest to find the perfect approach to with which to frame Chicken Ranch's story and nail that opening chapter, it occurs to me that at its heart, this is a mystery. Oh, not the back story, the history, but rather the events that everyone remembers, that made it legend. All of the elements are there--one man's heroic efforts in the face of fierce opposition to investigate rumors of organized crime, accusations of government corruption, secret files passed along in the dead of the night on a brothel that'd managed to stay open for more than a century in plain view of the law that, by rights, should have shut it down. Yes, it surely is a mystery:

Mr. Marvin Zindler, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the manila folder which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick sheaf of papers, creased and shuffled, of the sort which is known as a `unofficial investigation.' Just across the middle was a broad rubber band nearly half an inch across. `To Marvin Zindler, KTRK, from his friends of the DPS,' was written upon it, with the date `1973.' It was just such a stack as the old-fashioned police investigators used to write up - dignified, solid, and reassuring.

As always, this is a work in progress. Feedback is always encouraged. In case you missed 'em, here are my previous installments:
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Version 4
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Chicken Ranch: Sixth of Six

Armadillocon 32 proved to be a timely break for me. I was able to recharge the creative batteries and discuss the Chicken Ranch book with many folks who kindly offered myriad advice and suggestions. Once they understood what I was trying to do with the opening chapter, they enthusiastically endorsed my efforts and urged me to keep at it. And so I shall.

The story of the Chicken Ranch, in many ways, is one of obsession. Marvin Zindler pursues the great white brothel like a man possessed, and the town of La Grange is caught up in his pursuit through no fault of its own. At its heart, it's something of a tragedy, rife with symbolism. I believe the sheriff is the perfect viewpoint character for such an approach:

Call me Flournoy. Some years ago-- never mind how long precisely-- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me at the jail, I thought I would drive about a little and see the seamier part of Fayette County. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before jail cells, and bringing up the rear of every criminal transfer; and especially whenever my deputies get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically shooting people's hats off-- then, I account it high time to get to the Chicken Ranch as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the brothel. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the whores with me.

As always, this is a work in progress. Feedback is always encouraged. In case you missed 'em, here are my previous installments:
Version 5
Version 4
Version 3
Version 2
Version 1

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