Customer Reviews

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having conquered film, television, and taking her Las Vegas styled show from Las Vegas to the stages around the world from Radio City Music Hall in New York to the China Theatre in Sweden I was curious as to how the Swedish American bombshell would handle the role of Miss Mona, the madam of a notorious whorehouse. All skeptics stand aside! The fiery red head with the sensuous song nails the score beautifully! Her rendition of A Friend To Me will melt your heart and bring tears to your eyes. Not to be missed is her beautiful renditions of The Bus From Amarillo and Girl, You're a Woman.

Having seen Ann-Margret live in concert in Toronto (5 times in the same week) and New York at Radio City Music Hall (her very last performance at RCMH) I have to say she is probably the most underrated singer and entertainer of our time. Ann-Margret's biggest hurdle to overcome in her career is her God given beauty. Behind the beautiful facade lies a multi-talented dynamo who delivers a tour de force performance on this recording. Four decades as a sex symbol and going strong! Who else but Ann-Margret could be touring as a madam of a bordello in the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and release a gospel album at the same time?

AS for the rest of the recording. All I have to say is EVERYBODY does a great job on it. It is definitely better than the original Broadway cast recording and a definite must have for us die hard Ann-Margret fans! Buy it. You won't be disappointed. I will be first in line to buy a ticket if this production comes to Canada. Ann-Margret singing in Bob Mackie gowns. Now that's a whorehouse this gay man wants to visit! Love you Ann-Margret! God bless you and Roger and good luck!

This is a great CD. I bought it because the play with Ann-Margret is coming to Seattle and I had to sample it first. It includes all the songs and even a new one. The movie only had 7 of the songs from the play in it. I have the original 1978 cast recording on vinyl and I was happy to be able to have them on CD now. One of my favorite songs on this CD is "24 Hours of Lovin." Avery does a fantastic job with it. She gives it some soul. And "The Aggie Song" is pretty hillarious. Now even though Ann-Margret doesn't have all that of a singing voice, I still think she does her songs justice. And it was nice to hear the entire cast singing "Hard Candy Chritmas." So, I love this Cd and you should click on "Buy It" now!!!!!

....I can say about this sad, slapped together, make a quick buck tour starring Ann-Margret. Speaking of slapped all involved deserve a slap and Ann-Margret deserves a couple of slaps for signing on to this. Don't get me wrong, I love Ann-Margret(even had a secret crush on her in her Bye Bye Birdie days) but at 20 singing in a breathy, sex-kittenish baby voice-to some it might sound sexy--at 60+ using that same singing style-it sounds like asthma.

This review is really useless since it is now unavailable but if someone is ever crazy enough to re-release it. You Have been warned.

The original cast album is still the best and if you are a bit masochistic, I guess you could try The Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton lame version.

Roxie Lucas saves this review from having a single star. Her performance was the shining star in a rather lifeless, dusty, and uninspired revival of the original production which thankfully avoided Broadway. Compare with the rollicking original recording and you will easily notice the lack of life, spirit and vibrancy in the new recording. The addition of A Friend to Me added nothing to the score but sluggish redundancy.

THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS is always a delight, and in this new cast album of the recent national touring production starring Ann-Margret, it's even better than ever.

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!

As an Ann-Margret fan I had to get this version.As a fan of the show I discovered an added bonus.
I went running to the Broadway Box Office for a ticket to the evening show as soon as I saw the bastardized film version of this musical.Having met the "real" Miss Mona during the original Off-Broadway run I was aware that her one criticism of the show was that Good Old Girl seemed to imply she'd been more than friends with the sheriff.I was therefore totally offended ,as I'm sure she was ,that in order to incorporate Dolly's new songs the film was all about the affair that never happenned.And they cut Bus to Amarillo .What were they thinking? This CD and production feature a new song "A Friend to Me" sung by Ann-Margret (and Carol Hall on the CD).I'd like to publicly thank Miss Hall for setting the record straight.Edna would be pleased!

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.

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.

as though the packaging wasn't enough-Ann-margret looks as though time has stood still and and flawless the music from this new cd is a lighthearted good natured professional package...THOUGH HAVING SEEEN THE SHOW TWICE AND ITS PREMIERE IN WALLINGFORD CT. THE CD IS BY FAR AN EXCELLENT PRODUCTION..HATS OFF TO BRUCE KIMMEL FOR PRODUCING A SLICK PIECE THAT IS BROADWAY BOUND... ANN-MARGRETS BEST CUTS ARE BALLADS "ROAD TO AMARILLO" AND "FRIEND TO ME" BOTH ARE BEAUTIFUL SIGNATURE PIECES FOR ANN-MARGRET AND HER FANS WILL APPRECIATE--AVERY SOMMERS IS SUPERB WITH "24 HOURS OF LOVIN".. GARY SANDY IS SENSATIONAL AS THE SHERIF AND MOST MEMORABLE WITH HIS SAD-"SHE IS A GOOD OLE GAL"
THE ENSMBLE SINGS "HARD CANDY CHRISTMAS" WHICH IS A DELIGHT AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THIS HIGHLY TALENTED ENSEMBLE ALL SHINE ...ANN-MARGRET COULD HAVE HD A MORE POWERFUL PRESCENCE IN THIS PRODUCTION AND WAS NOT NECESSARILY THE MOST CREATIVE WAY TO BRING HER TO THE STAGE-BUT FOR A FIRST TIME EVER STAGE SHOW SHE WAS JUSTB AS YOU WOULD EXPECT-----A STAR AND THIS ENSEMBLE CAST MAKES THIS FYNSWORTHALLY CD, A SLICK PROCTION AND A HIT AND A FINE ADDITION TO ANY BROADWAY COLLECTION

I saw this production . . . it was a fantastic tour. I love this CD and highly reccomend it! This is by far the best recording of the show. If you are a fan of Ann Margret or of this musical I am sure you will love it. Now some people have complained about Ann Margret's voice not being what it was . . . I think it's better. Her voice is smokey, breathy and sexy . . . and perfect for this Las Vegas meets honky tonk score. She is the perfect Miss Mona aside from Dolly Parton. The supporting cast is very strong here as well. Flashy costumes and scantily clothed men and women . . . how can anyone not love this musical.