''Lone Star Love, or, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

based on Shakespeare's ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

''. The score is by Jack Herrick (of the

Red Clay Ramblers The Red Clay Ramblers are a North Carolina-based band founded in Durham, North Carolina, performing continuously since their formation in 1972. The current touring band has been together since 1987, with Jack Herrick (trumpet, bass), Bland Simpson ...

), and the book is by John L. Haber and Robert Horn. The setting of the piece has been moved to the

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

shortly after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, and the musical features country and bluegrass music.

Productions

After a long development process beginning in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, in the 1980s, ''Lone Star Love'' had an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

run in the 2004–05 season at the John Houseman Theatre directed by Michael Bogdanov and choreographed by

Randy Skinner Randy Skinner is an American dancer, director and choreographer, primarily for the stage. He has been nominated four times for Tony Awards, three times for Drama Desk Awards, and four times for Outer Critics Circle Awards for choreography. Early ...

, which featured

Beth Leavel Beth Leavel (born November 1, 1955) is a Tony Award-winning American stage and screen actress and singer. Life and career Leavel attended Needham B. Broughton High School and Meredith College, earning a degree in social work. She completed a g ...

and

Jay O. Sanders Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. Early life and education Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...

. The musical started pre-Broadway try-outs at the

5th Avenue Theatre The 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theatre located in Seattle's Skinner Building, in the U.S. state of Washington. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building and land are owned b ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, on September 8, 2007, and had an official run from September 19 through September 30. The 2007 version included several new songs and significant modifications to the book. Randy Skinner was the director and choreographer,

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

was creative supervisor, and the cast featured

Randy Quaid Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy. He was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in ''The Last Detail'' i ...

Robert Cuccioli Robert Cuccioli (born May 3, 1958) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical ''Jekyll and Hyde'', for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, th ...

Dee Hoty Dee Hoty (born August 16, 1952) is an American actress known for her work in musical theatre. Over the course of her career, she has appeared in numerous Broadway productions and earned three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical, ...

, and

Lauren Kennedy Lauren Kennedy (born September 3, 1973) is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina. Education Kennedy was bor ...

. The Red Clay Ramblers band was featured on stage. The Seattle production has been reviewed as lacking pace. On September 24, 2007, it was announced that the Broadway engagement, which had been scheduled to begin in November at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was built in 1907 a ...

, had been cancelled. The press release noted that plans for a Broadway run "will be announced when they are available." The ''New York Times'' reported that there was disagreement about the interpretation of the Falstaff character between one of the producers and Quaid and his wife (who is his manager), and that the producers felt that the show is not ready for Broadway. The Quaids refused to make the necessary changes to the script that were being asked of them so the producer felt there was no other choice but to close the show at the end of the Seattle run.

Synopsis

"Colonel" John Falstaff travels to Windsor, Texas, after being dishonorably discharged from the Confederate Army. Upon his arrival, the rascally Falstaff woos the wives of two wealthy and pre-occupied cattle ranchers in order to gain their husbands' land and money. But the ladies are wise to Falstaff's scheme.

Characters and cast

*Col. John Falstaff - Randy Quaid *Frank Ford - Robert Cuccioli *Agnes Ford - Lauren Kennedy *George Page - Dan Sharkey *Margaret Anne Page - Dee Hoty *Miss Anne Page - Kara Lindsay *Miss Quickly - Ramona Keller

Recording

The

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

for the

production is available through

PS Classics PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals, founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin. Recent Broadway cast recordings from PS Classics includ ...

References

External links

*
Lortel listing
* ttp://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_l/lonestarlove.html The Guide to Musical Theatre - Lone Star Love {{The Merry Wives of Windsor Songs about Texas Off-Broadway musicals Plays and musicals based on The Merry Wives of Windsor 2004 musicals