GPAC hosts ‘Best Little Whorehouse’

By Ariel Houchens
Senior Staff Writer

UNCP is bringing one of the country’s most popular whorehouses to campus this month. The Broadway hit, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” will be at the GPAC Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.

The production is being brought to UNCP by The Park Avenue Theatrical Group from New York.

“This particular company has gotten amazing reviews,” said Elizabeth McLean, director of marketing at GPAC.

“I’ve been to the ‘whorehouse’ and never had a better time!” Pia Lindstrom from WNBC TV told a reviewer.

The play, first performed in 1977, tells the true story of a brothel in Texas that was shut down because of efforts made by a television reformer named Melvin Zindler. Zindler, who is referred to as Melvin P. Thorp in the play, had the entire nation stirred up about the Texas brothel.

Even Johnny Carson was making jokes about it.

The whorehouse in La Grange, Texas, was called “The Chicken Ranch” by the locals and was known to the Internal Revenue Service as “Edna’s Ranch Boarding House.” Chicken Ranch served the La Grange community including some of the local politicians.

“It had nine girls and fourteen acres of parking,” said Edna Milton Davidson, the madam of Chicken Ranch, who liked to call herself the landlady. “It ran like a boarding house,” Davidson said.

Chicken Ranch got its name because, when money was hard to come by, chickens were often traded to pay off a gentleman’s debt.

Chicken Ranch went from local popularity to national recognition as a Broadway smash after a man named Larry L. King wrote an article about the experiences of Davidson at Chicken Ranch.

Peter Masterson, a Texas actor, read King’s article. Masterson thought the story of Chicken Ranch would make an excellent play, so he teamed up with King.

King and Masterson were later joined by two other Texans who helped create a play that would go on to receive three Tony Awards and become one of Broadway’s longest running musicals.

“‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ is not a play about prostitution. It’s about the hypocrisy that exists in society regarding sex,” King said.

Even though the doors of Chicken Ranch were forced closed in real life, the story of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” has been told over and over again.

The original Broadway production had a cameo appearance by Edna Milton who played Miss Wulla Jean. The play, which moved to a Broadway stage in 1978, was performed 1,584 times before it closed in 1982.

In 1982, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” became a film starring Dolly Parton as “Miss Mona” and Burt Reynolds as “Ed Earl.”

Tickets to “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” are available at the GPAC box office now until the day of the show.

Tickets are $28, $26, $10 child or student, $15 faculty or staff. For tickets, call GPAC at 910.521.6361 or 800.367.0778