Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Ann-Margret takes on the role of the Chicken Ranch owner Miss Mona with aplomb, offering up a lively performance. She sings lovely renditions of "Girl, You're a Woman", "A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place", and a brand-new song written especially for this production, "A Friend to Me".

Gary Sandy does well by the character of Mona's old flame Ed Earl Dodd, with fine support from Rob Donohoe as Melvin P. Thorpe and Hal Davis as Edsel Mackay.

Avery Sommers adds a soulful voice to the character of the sassy bordello maid Jewel, and offers up a show-stopping "Twenty-Four Hours of Lovin'". Roxie Lucas plays the role of the thankless Doatsy Mae, and sings her self-titled number quite affectingly.

Terri Dixon and Jen Celene Little do well by the featured roles of Angel and Shy, with the Chicken Ranch girls offering up a superb rendition of the heartbreakingly-lovely "Hard Candy Christmas".

All-in-all, if you love this delightful musical, you'll adore this brand-new cast album!


Star Power in the House - -The Whorehouse, that is.   March 6, 2002
Jaime Moreno-Valle (Mexico City, Distrito Federal Mexico)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Ann Margret`s singing voice is quite different from what you`d expect if you heard the previous cast album; however, she purrs her way through them while infusing a great deal of charm and personality to her renditions. Her numbers are not musically beautiful, yet they manage to be touching, sexy, rawnchy and pleasing. You can feel her elgant, strong, glamorous presence which, incidentally, are the character requirements for Miss Mona. The musical arrangements are superb, the energetic entr' acte is a welcome addition to the already familiar musical program. The ensemble is superband Watchdog, the Governor and Jewel all stand out in their solo numbers.

The sad note is, the "Doatsy Mae" number does no justice to the original. Although acceptably sung, it fails to covey the furstration, hope and dreams of the character. Overall, this CD is surely worth the price: with its good vocals, wonderful score and general sense of innocent mischief, you'll have a great time listening to this all-out for fun musical.


Ann Margret Disappointing   February 25, 2002
D. Clancy (Portland, Or USA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

After listening to this cast album I was horrified and disappointed at the way Ann Margret sounds. Her voice is not in good form and on more than one occasion she fails to stay on key. It is very sad to hear because she has always been one of my favorite performers. The show is coming to Portland in 2 weeks but I think I will bypass this particular production.
Bruce Kimmel always does excellent work. His CDs are flawless. However, everything seems horribly over miked, in particular Ann Margret. You can hear every breath she takes and it sounds like they were trying to compensate her voice. The orchestra sounds thin as though they are not using a lot of instruments. The chorus does not sound as rich and full as they do on the original Broadway cast CD. This might be due, in part, to the recording studio. It was recorded on their day off during a three week run in Dallas, Texas.
There are some excellent supporting performances (hence the two star rating)that are enjoyable. Roxie Lucas, as Doatsie Mae, has a nice solo as well as Avery Sommers singing "24 Hours of Lovin':.
Gary Sandy and Rob Donohue are also fine in less flashy roles.
Perhaps it is a production that is better seen than heard.