'Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical' Headed Back to New York

LOS ANGELES—Fourteen years after it debuted Off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theater, Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical returns to The Big Apple for a very limited engagement at a downtown theater starting August 6. "5th Floor Productions will present the musical, which will run downtown through Aug. 9 at Teatro Circulo and—'befitting its cult following and risqué source material'—will offer both evening performances and late-night shows," reported Playbill.com. "Directed by Nikki DiLoreto, the production will star Mikah Horn as Debbie with Stefanie Miller, Katie Perpall, Nicole Hale, Megan Fleming, Matt Hill, Michael Gioia, Charlie Stoop, Parker Krug and Chris Rehmann." The show, which is based on the original 1978 movie, was originally conceived and produced by Susan Schwartz, who also starred as Debbie when it debuted in 2001 at the New York Fringe Festival as a straight play. According to the show's Wikipedia entry, "The Araca Group bought the rights to produce the piece and opened it as a musical in 2002 at the Jane Street Theater in New York City. Sherie Rene Scott starred in the musical as Debbie. Since its Off-Broadway run, other productions have taken place, notably in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia (2004) with Ben Steel, in Dallas, Texas (2005), in San Francisco, California (2006) and in Los Angeles, California (2008) with Dylan Vox." 5th Floor Productions, in an audition notice posted to its website, describes the production thusly: "The most important theatrical event of the twenty-first century, Debbie Does Dallas is a modern morality tale told as a comic musical of tragic proportions in the language of the rodeo-porno-football circus. The show is the coming-of-age story of an all-American small-town sweetheart named Debbie Benton, the captain of her high-school cheerleading team, who dreams of making it to the big time by becoming a Texas Cowgirl Cheerleader. When Debbie receives a letter telling her she has qualified for the professional squad, the only thing that stands between her and the realization of her dream is bus fare to the big city: Dallas. She enlists her teammates to form a company called Teen Services and get jobs to raise money, but when they learn that minimum-wage jobs just don't pay enough, they agree to try their hands at 'little favors' performed with enthusiasm by 'good girls.' Based on the film of the same name, but without any actual sex or nudity." Teatre Circulo is located at 64 E. 4th Street. Tickets are $20 and go on sale July 7.