 "Photo: Courtesy Colleen Scribner")
With song, dance and satirical humor, "Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical" brings a refreshing adaptation to the famous porn flick. This PG-13 play follows the adventures of Debbie Benton as she tries to save up the money to become a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
The original "Debbie Does Dallas" was released in 1978, starring Bambi Woods. The musical spinoff was created in 2001 by Susan L. Schwartz. By 2002, it was an off-Broadway comedy.
It's hard to know what to expect with the musical adaptation of a classic porn film. Will there be excessive nudity? Will it stay true to the original weak storyline? How serious of a play is this? The audience quickly realizes that, while the play keeps some of the original dialogue and storyline, it's actually meant to poke fun at the genre of early mainstream porn films. From the first scene, a tall, heavy-set man playing cheerleader Donna immediately elicits laughs.
Debbie (Jessalyn Guizzotti) receives a letter asking her to try out for the Dallas Cowboys cheer squad, but is disappointed to find she's responsible for travel expenses and putting herself up while she's there. When Debbie's parents don't give her the money, she turns to her friends for help. They decide to get jobs after school and make enough money for all of them to go to Dallas.
As the friends quickly realize they won't make the money fast enough, they get worried. But one day at work, Debbie's boss tries to solicit some heavy petting from Debbie and even offers to pay. Debbie uses this idea to raise money for their trip. She shares the plan with the other cheerleaders and they begin calling their new business "Teen Services." The girls earn money by performing various sexual acts for their employers, and in the process, expands, their own sexual horizons. In the end, Debbie is faced with a moral dilemma - she must decide if she will give up the one thing she swore she wouldn't - her virginity.
In the end, Debbie's friends decide not to go with her to Dallas because they've all found some sort of personal fulfillment through their shenanigans. The semi-sappy ending adds the last little bit of humor to this hilarious play.
The cast includes Christa Coulter, Jennifer Hirsch, Melissa Beckwith and Joe Bailey as the other cheerleaders, plus John Ager, Andrew Lark, and Joe Plambeck playing all the various male roles in the play. The director of this playful and lovably crude performance is Jamie Richards.
The crew includes musical director Michael Smith, Choreographer Jerry Haines, assistant director Jamie Warrow and stage manager Michael Carnow. The sexual shenanigans and playful petting are now at The Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale.
