Preview of Upcoming Season at TriArts Sharon Playhouse

Tony Award-winning musical comedy Kicks off TriArts Sharon Playhouse 2012 Summer Season

June 28 through July 15

(Sharon, CT) TriArts Sharon Playhouse, under the leadership of Executive Director Alice Bemand, kicks off its 2012 summer season with the smart, sexy, and foot-stompin’ Tony Award-winning musical comedy, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas from June 28 through July 15.   Based on Larry L. King’s 1974 Playboy magazine article about the closing of the Lone Star State’s Chicken Ranch, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas features a book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson, with a score by Carol Hall.  Directed by Artistic Director John Simpkins, whose recent credits include the NY premiere of Pool Boy, the Drama Desk nominated Bloodsong of Love (by Joe Iconis) and Jim Lantz’s play The Bus, which ran last fall at 59E59 Theatres.  M.K. Lawson (Rent and The Wedding Singer) returns as choreographer. Music Direction is by Rob Rokicki (Hairspray at the Engeman Theatre).

Miss Mona’s Chicken Ranch brothel comes to life in this rollicking production of the award-winning musical. When crusading television watchdog Melvin P. Thorpe ogles the whorehouse as his next moral target, Miss Mona, her bevy of working girls and Sherriff Ed Earl Dodd must buck the muckraker to keep the ranch open. A gritty satire about moral hypocrisy and media sensationalism, this musical is the perfect election-year event!  

TriArts Sharon Playhouse’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas stars Adinah Alexander (Broadway’s Wicked, The Wedding Singer and the upcoming Kinky Boots) as Miss Mona and Travis Mitchell (National tour of Spring Awakening and Off-Broadway’s The Bus at 59E59) as Sheriff Earl Dodd.  Meggan Utech (Jewel), Rose Bisogno (Shy), Kathleen Weston (Angel), Ashley Sweetman (Doatsey),  Emily Soell (Miss Wulla Jean), Tim Shea (Melvin P. Thorpe), John Champion (Governor), Duane Estes (Senator Wingwoah), Dave Cadwell (Bandleader/Edsel Mackey), Russ Sawicki (C.J. Scruggs), Philip O’Reilly (Mayor Rufus Poindexter).  The ensemble Stephen Beard, Drew Berezowitz, Amber Cameron, Livie Casto, Sarah Pearl Loman, Gena Loe, Zach Longstreet, Christian Lowery, Nick Savarese, Becky Sawicki, Jim Scofield, and Samantha Weinstein.   The design team includes Erik D. Diaz (sets), Chris Dallos (lights), and Michelle Humphrey (costumes)

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened at Broadway’s 46th Street Theatre (now Richard Rodgers Theatre) June 19, 1978, where it ran for 1,584 performances, directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, winning Tony Awards for Carlin Glynn (Miss Mona) and Henderson Forsythe (Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd).  Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds starred in the 1982 film version.  Dolly Parton wrote the song “I Will Always Love You” which was included on the soundtrack album.  

TriArts Sharon Playhouse’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is sponsored by Best & Cavallaro Real Estate, Herrington’s and Prindle Insurance. The TriArts Sharon Playhouse is located at 49 Amenia Road in Sharon, CT.  Performance dates and times for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas are Thursday, June 28 at 7pm; Friday, June 29 at 8pm; Saturday, June 30 at 8pm; Sunday, July 1 at 5pm; Thursday, July 5 at 2pm and 7pm; Friday, July 6 at 8pm, Saturday, July 7 at 8pm;  Sunday, July 8 at 5pm; Wednesday, July 11 at 2pm; Thursday, July 12 at 2pm and 7pm; Friday, July 13 at 8pm; Saturday, July 14 at 2pm and 8pm; and Sunday, July 15 at 5pm.  Tickets ($16-$47) for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas are available for purchase online at www.triarts.net or by calling the box office at (860) 364-7469.   

The 2012 Summer Season at TriArts Sharon Playhouse continues with the award-winning musicals Altar Boyz (July 20-29) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music (August 9-26).  TriArts Sharon Playhouse (Alice Bemand, Executive Director; Michael Berkeley and John Simpkins, Artistic Directors) is a not-for-profit theatre, located in Litchfield County, Sharon, CT, at the foot of the Berkshires.  In addition to producing mainstage musicals and many special events each summer season, TriArts also offers a summer youth theatre program, workshops and readings of new musicals, concerts, and special events throughout the year in its Bok Gallery.  For more information on TriArts Sharon Playhouse, please visit www.triarts.net or call 860-364-SHOW (7469).