Porn Musical Has Theatregoers Coming In Droves
MARCH 28, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TNA) – The 1970s was something of a golden age for pornographic films.
Like no time before or since, porno movies were elevated to a unique position of cultural acceptance and significance, producing titles that remain recognizable pop culture icons to this day.
Perhaps chief among these titles was 1978’s “Debbie Does Dallas,” starring Bambi Woods as the titular “Debbie” who hopes to live out her dreams of becoming a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader with the money she and her helpful friends earn having sex with the local men.
BareBones.org The female members of 'Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical (l-r): Kristen Jones, April Leanna, Heather Leanna, Greta Marie Zandstra, Rachel Roberts. The musicial is playing in Charlotte, N.C., through April 12 and is based on a 1978 porn movie.
While most fans of the cult hit are probably well aware that the movie spawned several sequels and spin-offs, they may be surprised to find out that “Debbie Does Dallas” was also made into a stage play.
“Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical,” written by Susan L. Schwartz, was first put on at the New York Fringe Festival in 2002. Now Bare Bones Theatre Group, located in Charlotte, N.C., is bringing Debbie back to the Bible Belt from whence she came.
“There’s been sort of a buzz about the show, even from the time we announced it,” said Jim Yost, who is the show’s director as well as one of the co-founders of Bare Bones.
Yost has faith that people will come to the play with an open mind and hopes the notorious nature of the original material will drive away any would-be prudes, noting that most people should have at least heard of the movie, if not seen it.
“There’s nothing about the title that is going to trick you, you know exactly what you’re getting into when you go to see it,” Yost said. “I can’t imagine that anyone who comes to see it is going to have anything [negative] to say about it as far as there being any [unpleasant] surprises.”
"It is a very raunchy play, but I think the raunchiness is done in a way that is very clever, which I think is more appealing than being overt."
Still, those hoping to see everything they loved about “Debbie Does Dallas” represented in “Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical” should check their expectations at the door.
“I think anybody that comes to see the play, and expects it to be the movie, they’re going to be disappointed,” Yost said.
He pointed out that the play does follow the storyline from the movie pretty accurately, and that certain bits of dialogue have been lifted whole cloth and placed into the adaptation, but he also noted that the play is much less explicit than its predecessor.
“Although there is sex in the show, it is sort of suggested,” said Yost. “It’s not actual sex. That’s really where the music and the singing come in: where there would be sex in the story, rather than actually performing it, the actors sing about it, and dance about it.”
It’s hard to believe that a song and dance could come close to matching the explicit nature of “Debbie Does Dallas.” That is, until you hear one of the tunes.
Take, for instance, the lyrics to one of the show’s numbers, “Dildo Rag”:
Now put it deep inside your mouth/ You love that taste/ Now back down south/ A candle’s working day is never through/ It’s time to let a candle work for you.
Stroke it/ Poke it/ Careful not to choke it/ Now that candle’s working for you/ Just stick it through your merkin/ And make that candle work for you!
Although the play may not contain sex, there is some nudity. Yost is quick to point out that it is done tastefully, however.
In fact, he said the term “various states of undress” might be more accurate, and mentioned that you’d have to look pretty hard to see any real nudity as a result of the staging.
“It is a very raunchy play,” he said, “but I think the raunchiness is done in a way that is very clever, which I think is more appealing than being overt.”
“There’s certainly nothing that is so profane that you wouldn’t want to bring a date,” Yost insisted. “It’s actually a really good date play. Even a first date, it’s a great icebreaker, because I think you’ll learn a lot about the person you’re with by their reaction to it.”
BareBones.org Actress Heather Leanna does the character 'Debbie' in 'Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical.'
Yost believes “Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical” taps into a tendency that many people have to deny their true desires as to what they want to see, unless they are somehow validated as being on a higher, more legitimate plane via the arts.
“I think people secretly do have a profane sensibility that sort of draws them to this kind of material, because it is sort of done in an artistic way, and it’s sort of done theatrically, but there’s sort of this perverse element to it that I think is intriguing to people,” Yost said. “So it’s a nice way to be able to say, ‘I want to go see something offensive and crude, but at the same time there is some artistic merit there.’”
Heather Leanna, the actress playing Debbie, has a likewise optimistic outlook when it comes to how audiences will hopefully receive the play.
“I haven’t quite gotten the feel for Charlotte yet, because I’m not originally from here, so it’s kind of hard for me to say whether or not they’ll take this the wrong way, but I think most people will take it with an open attitude, and just have fun with the show and enjoy watching it,” she said.
As for the reaction from her friends and family when they find out she’s going to be playing a character first made famous in the world of pornography, she says it usually goes one of two ways.
“They either laugh, and kind of joke around about it, or they kind of look at you with wide eyes like, ‘Are you serious?’” she said. “And they always have questions, like, ‘Is it real porn?’ ‘Is there nudity?’
“They have a lot of questions as to what’s going to be involved in the show, but I haven’t had a bad comment yet,” she said. "Where there would be sex in the story, rather than actually performing it, the actors sing about it, and dance about it."
Leanna, who also claims to have never seen “Debbie Does Dallas” (though she said she was aware of the film, and did plenty of online research before accepting the role), got the part after Yost saw her in another musical adaptation: “Oliver!”
The similarity between the two works ends there, however, as “Oliver!” is loosely based on the famous novel by Charles Dickens, “Oliver Twist.”
Perhaps noting this dissimilarity, Yost proceeded with caution while trying to interest Leanna in the part.
“He told me it was pretty mellow, and that the things that didn’t seem like they would be mellow, that they were going to do them in a classy way, so that it wasn’t going to be anything crazy with the nudity, or actual porn on stage, or anything like that,” Leanna said. “So he set my mind at ease, and then when I read the script it confirmed everything he’d said, so I was fine with it.”
The show’s director and lead actress will have to wait and see whether or not audiences feel the same way about the musical as they do, but Yost seems to be relatively unconcerned.
“It’s funny, something like this will probably not even register on people’s registers, but if it were a gay-themed play, or a play that was maybe taking a homosexual film and making it into a theatrical piece of work, I think that would get more attention than this,” Yost said.
He continued: “When you bill something as an adaptation of a porno film I think people will sort of understand that there are certain things to expect, and I think those people will be excited about seeing it.”
“Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical” plays at the Duke Power Theatre in Charlotte through April 12.
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