Presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" first opened on Broadway in 1978. The controversial musical has received seven Tony Award nominations and won two for best actor and actress.

With light-hearted and raunchy humor the musical questions who is of greater moral guilt: Those who are openly immoral or those who publicly denounce the same acts they themselves engage in behind closed doors? The show also explores ways of holding on to dreams and moving on with life even when times get tough.

As the story begins, the audience meets two girls — one an experienced prostitute and the other fresh off the farm. They arrive in Gilbert, Texas, to look for jobs at the Chicken Ranch (so named because it accepted chickens as payment during the Depression). Both are accepted by the proprietor, Miss Mona (Beth Turcotte), and begin settling into their new jobs.

Meanwhile, Melvin P. Thorpe (David Mitsch), a television commentator, has developed a new watchdog program called "Nemesis" and is gearing up to launch an attack on the Chicken Ranch. Thorpe calls on the sheriff of Gilbert (Harold Mortimer) to close the place down. The sheriff, a long-time friend of Miss Mona's, kicks Thorpe and his television crew out of town. But Thorpe doesn't give up, and he and his cameras storm into the bordello on a night when both the sheriff and a college football team are visiting the ranch, bringing chaos with them.

In the end, Thorpe and his moral majority win the day and convince the governor of Texas (Adam Shapiro) and a Texas senator (Andy Planck) —both long-time Chicken Ranch customers —that the place must be shut down.

"Just like the state in which the play is set, ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' is a huge show, with a huge cast, huge sets and larger-than-life characters," said Michael Worcel, director.

The production will have a guest musical director, Steven Francis Vasta. He is a native of New York and has been active for 20 years as a conductor and coach and is currently a contributing editor to "Listener" magazine.

The University Theatre Box Office is open from 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays and one hour before performances. Tickets are $12 for the general public, $11 for Ball State faculty and staff, $9 for senior citizens and $5 for students. Call the box office at (765) 285-8749 for more information. 

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