Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd closed the Whorehouse one final time on Saturday. I am absolutely knackered!
What a challenge and what a rewarding experience taking part in the musical was. Billiant fun, amazing energy, a superb cast, awesome audiences and I met some cracking new people along the way. Bring on the next one!
I think it’s fair to say it’s not the best musical of all time, but for one week in May it was the Best Little Whorehouse in Derby.
We’re now two shows into Best Little Whorehouse In Texas and I’m loving every minute. The highlight for me each night has been ‘The Aggie Song’ which has been getting a terrific response from audiences. However, ‘Good Old Girl’ was particularly enjoyable last night and the hoedown at the end is always fun.
We’ve had a terrific review from the Derby Evening Telegraph and the comments Rachel received for her performance were well deserved:
I don’t know what they’re putting in the tea when Derby Opera Company rehearse but whatever it is there can’t be many inhibitions left among the cast members.
Two years ago, the raunch started with Jekyll and Hyde, last year the men decided to strip with The Full Monty and this year we get The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Check your pacemaker at the door because once again the troupe pull out all the stops to put their collective hearts, souls and lingerie into bringing this story of the infamous Chicken Ranch to life.
The show is full of big numbers with snappy choreography and a that includes 10 prostitutes, their madam, some townspeople, various politicians, local choristers, the Texas Aggies football team and - at the centre of the storm - troublemaker Melvin P. Thorpe, a flamboyant TV personality who is determined to shut down the Chicken Ranch and fulfil his destiny as “watchdog” for the local TV market.
But two numbers stand out. One is a solo in which Rachel Cline plays a disillusioned waitress named Doatsey Mae who wishes she’d had a more exciting life. She gets to perform a hauntingly beautiful ballad, Doatsey Mae, and completely nails it.
At the other end of the musical spectrum is The Aggie Song, a robust, full-bodied press from a chorus of football players getting ready to visit the Chicken Ranch, their prize for winning the Thanksgiving game earlier that day.
There’s a lot to cram onto the Guildhall stage and I question putting the band in an elevated position in the centre of the stage, it hinders the performers and on an amplification note tends to drown out some of the cast on the musical numbers.
It’s good to see this musical back on a Derby stage and watch a cast that looks to be enjoying what they’re doing. What next for Derby Opera? Hair? At least it’ll keep the costume budget down!
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)
Tickets are still available for certain shows and you can get them by calling the Derby Opera Company Ticket Secretary.
Less than a week until the first night of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and rehearsals have really ramped up. We rehearsed all day on Sunday and we’re in every night this week! The musical numbers are all tightening up and costumes and props are beginning to make their debuts.
Last night the American Football shirts for The Aggie Song made their first appearance. As a cost saving exercise they are basically t-shirts with what look like car seats sewn into the shoulders. They look ridiculous and yet brilliant at the same time and the routine was even more fun than ever because of them.
I think this show is going to be enourmously enjoyable to perform and I hope you get chance to check it out.
I’m absolutely shattered after last week, so it’s nice to have the week to recover. However, this Sunday I’m straight back in the deep end with the first rehearsal/read-through of Best Little Whorehouse In Texas for Derby Opera Company. I’ve wanted to be involved in a musical for a while now and with Derby Shakespeare taking a few months break, now was as good an opportunity as ever.
The promo for Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
I was very pleased with my audition, but it felt like I was auditioning for the first time again. This was possibly the combination of it being my first audition for DOC and my first for a musical, so dancing and singing were also under scrutiny along with my acting which I am far more comfortable with.
My dance audition was a bit sketchy, but definitely something to really get into and enjoy over the next few weeks and the girls were absolutely brilliant! What man would complain about a bunch of females jumping all over him? The singing was absolutely terrifying and I could feel my hands shaking as I held the music book. I find singing a very personal thing, I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because my parents were never really singers. I think had they walked around the house belting out the hits of Broadway then things may have been a little different in perhaps more ways than one. However, I couldn’t have asked for a better audition. I was quite well prepared and just for the hell of it I even had a crack at Melvin P. Thorpe one of the principle characters. It was incredibly enjoyable.
In the end I made the ensemble, so I can imagine there is going to be a hell of a lot of work involved. Plenty of singing, dancing and I’d imagine there will be an opportunity to play multiple minor roles, so great in terms of acting experience too.