OPENING

William Shakespeare is well known for his plays and sonnets, but his use of heightened language and drama also makes a perfect fit for musicals. Some of the best known adaptations come from Broadway legends like Rodgers and Hart with The Boys from Syracuse, inspired by The Comedy of Errors. There’s Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which is based on The Taming of the Shrew. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim created West Side Story as a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet. And then Galt MacDermot turned Two Gentlemen of Verona into a rock musical in 1971.

Well, around that same time a director in North Carolina named John Haber turned The Merry Wives of Windsor into a Texas-based play featuring some original country music and underscoring provided by Jack Herrick. Eventually both men turned this play into a musical. And after a long development process that attracted some big-name actors for the lead role of Falstaff, the show finally made its Off-Broadway premiere and changed its name to Lone Star Love. And based on that successful run, the show’s producers then set their sights on Broadway. So they recast the show with Broadway names like Dee Hoty and Robert Cuccioli as well as Lauren Kennedy, who I sat down with in 2019 and we talked about this production.

Lauren Kennedy: “Well, it was started off great…It was your classic Broadway, you know, 4 week rehearsal period. There's only a few signs early on that, you know, people involved in the show might be a little tricky.”

And by “people involved” Kennedy is referring to actor Randy Quaid and his wife/manager Evi. Now it may have been Quaid’s energy and comedy that landed him the role of Falstaff, but it was his behavior that made this production anything but merry as he and his wife turned what was meant to be a down-home country musical into a ridiculous farce—both on and off stage.

Kennedy: “It was between him and Beau Bridges apparently, and I'm sure they were wishing, you know, halfway through the process that they would’ve cast Beau Bridges. (Beau. I know. Oh, Beau.) But Randy, he just started kind of going off the rails a little bit and really started—I think he was operating out of fear that he wasn't gonna be any good, and his wife was very involved. And it was just crazy because he had creative control. So that's ultimately how it all went wrong is that they gave him final say on anything creative to get him to sign on.”

As you will learn, there were many wonderful steps forward for this Texas-based musical that should have culminated in its eventual debut on Broadway. But there were also so many costly mistakes and just absolutely bizarre events that led to the downfall of Lone Star Love.

And I have to say upfront, listener discretion advised for this episode—yeah, I know its the first time I’ve had to say that for this podcast—because there will be some wild stories told that might not be suitable for younger audiences.

"Welcome to Season Two of Closing Night, a theater history podcast that dives into the stories of Broadway's famous and forgotten shows that closed too soon. I'm Patrick Oliver Jones, an actor and producer based in New York City, and this season I'll be your guide as we uncover the mysteries of productions that never even made it to opening night. Whether they closed out of town or during previews, you'll hear firsthand from those involved, revealing just how unpredictable—and unforgiving—the path to Broadway can be."

BEGINNINGS

The journey of Love Star Love began in 1973 with John Haber, who was returning home to North Carolina after earning his MFA in directing from New York University’s Tisch School. He was hired by Everyman Company, a local theater troupe there in Chapel Hill, to direct Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I. This play chronicles the rise of Prince Hal to the throne amidst political intrigue and rebellion, and centers on the tumultuous relationship between the young prince and his father, King Henry IV. And one of the best known characters is Falstaff, the roguish and jovial companion to Prince Hal, serves as a humorous contrast to the arrogant nobles, as Randy Quaid explains:

“So many dimensions to Falstaff. You know, Shakespeare wrote him in a couple of the Henry plays, and then Queen Elizabeth, so the story goes, loved the character of Falstaff so much, she asked Shakespeare to write a play for him where he falls in love, and that became Merry Wives of Windsor.”

And so it was this play that Haber opted for instead, thinking that Merry Wives would be more suitable for his amateur cast. And he transported the setting from Windsor, England to Windsor, Texas (which is an actual community about 12 miles outside Waco). With this change in location also came a change to the timeline of the show: it now took place in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, where Colonel John Falstaff has been dishonorably discharged from the Confederate Army. And he mischievously sets his sights on wooing the wives of two affluent cattle ranchers, aiming to exploit their husbands' wealth and land. And just like Shakepeare’s original version, the cunning wives quickly see through Falstaff's ambitions and foil his attempts at deception.

Casting the larger-than-life role of Falstaff can be a challenge, but the Everyman Company actually had someone in mind: a local banjo player by the name of Tommy Thompson. He was part of North Carolina’s renowned bluegrass band Red Clay Ramblers, who were also brought in to provide atmospheric music from the stage sidelines, culminating in a performance of “Happy Trails” during the curtain call.

A year after that production, Haber moved back to New York to pursue a career in the theatre. Shortly thereafter he got into directing and writing and eventually joined The Dodgers, which has gone on to become one of the most prolific and prominent theater producing companies in New York, with Haber serving as Director of Special Events. On a side note, Haber even opened up his own bakery called Habey’s Cookies in the 1980s, and to this day still offers specialized Show Cookies from what is now called Habey’s Kitchen.

And while Haber was busy in New York, the Red Clay Ramblers expanded their reach beyond North Carolina with multiple album releases and international tours as well as work on the pre-Broadway production of Big River in 1984 at La Jolla Playhouse. The Ramblers also won a Drama Desk Award for their musical contributions in Sam Shepard’s 1986 play A Lie of the Mind and went on to perform in the same play at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX the following year. It was there that they were asked if they had any other ideas for a show they might want to bring to the Alley. Thompson remembered that Texas-set Merry Wives and called up his old friend Haber to begin work on remounting the show, but this time as a musical.

Jack Herrick of the Ramblers composed a complete score and lyrics, while Haber revised the script, blending Elizabethan dialogue with cowboy antics. The Ramblers also served as Colonel Falstaff's companions. After its run at the Alley Theatre in 1988, the musical made the rounds at several regional theaters from Missouri and Ohio to of course North Carolina.

Clarke Thorell: “The Red Clay Ramblers are incredible. I just think wherever they go they bring this really unique sound.”

The Red Clay Ramblers also continued building their performing resume by appearing in the Sam Shepard movie Silent Tongue, alongside comedians Bill Irwin and David Shiner. Now, that meeting led to all of them working together later that year at the Lincoln Center “Serious Fun! Festival,” where Irwin and Shiner created a predominantly wordless comedy act called Full Moon, which was accompanied by the Ramblers. The reception was overwhelmingly positive, prompting the men to take their show to Broadway in 1993. Full Moon would return to Broadway in 1995 and 1998, each time starring Irwin, Shiner, and The Ramblers. That final production won a Special Tony Award for Live Theatrical Presentation.

GAINING MOMENTUM

Meanwhile, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas continued to find regional success, and it was eventually brought to New York for development in 1996 and 1999. For these workshops, the show changed its title to Lone Star Love and brought in Jim Belushi for the role of Falstaff. It was led by the esteemed Shakespeare director Michael Bogdanov, who brought his vast experience with classical works to this musical interpretation.

Michael Bogdanov: “I’m a great believer in in sitting down with the text for quite a long time and beating it out--going through every line and every sentence, every servant with one line to try and tie the whole thing together, so that everybody's singing from the same hymn sheet.”

However, after the workshops Belushi wasn’t able to move on with the musical due to other commitments (presumably that would have been his TV show According to Jim, which aired from 2001-09).

Jack Herrick of The Red Clay Ramblers continued his work on other projects, like Kudzu: A Southern Musical that he co-wrote and music directed in 1998. Its premiere at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC is notable because it featured future Broadway actors Beth Leavel and Rodney Hicks in the cast.

Several years later, though, Lone Star Love finally had its Off-Broadway debut in December 2004 with renowned New York actor Jay O. Sanders portraying Falstaff, Gary Sandy from the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati played Frank Ford, and Beth Leavel was brought in to play the role of Aggie Ford. Once again, the Red Clay Ramblers were part of Falstaff’s entourage and direction was by Bogdanov, this time adding Randy Skinner as choreographer.

Randy Skinner: “Well, it’s a timeless story of course, The Merry Wives of Windsor, but the score by Jack Herrick is so tuneful. And I respond to a melody, and of course, there's such rhythm in this score too that when I heard it for the first time, I immediately started seeing visions and hearing things in my head, and that's the sign, just people really do respond to great melodies.”

As part of the pre-show for this Off-Broadway production, cast members would talk with the audience as well as present a down-home barbecue feast onstage that included hot dogs and chili, potato salad with corn muffins, and a choice of lemonade or beer to drink. However, the NY Times theater critic wasn’t quite taken in by all this country charm:

“It would be wise not to overindulge in starchy foods, since…corn and sugar also turn out to be essential ingredients in this sweet-tempered, cheerfully hokey production. … With the musical's score and its book proceeding on parallel tracks, the show tends to dawdle when it should sprint. The cast certainly can't be faulted for a lack of energy. With accents as broad as the Rio Grande, they romp, stomp, sashay, sneer or snarl with an exuberance that skirts caricature or embraces it … Lone Star Love is the kind of pleasant, competent, thoroughly innocuous show that somehow leaves you with an itch for the offensively bad.”

Well, newly retired businessman Ed Burke was certainly left with an itch after seeing the show on opening night. He was from Chapel Hill, NC and had just sold his company, and now he wanted to get into the producing game. So he met the show’s lead producer Bob Boyett (who you’ll remember from the Marquis Theatre productions of The Woman in White and Drowsy Chaperone).

PREPARING FOR BROADWAY

Following its Off-Broadway run, which was actually extended a month due to surging ticket sales, Lone Star Love recorded a cast album, and the production garnered nominations for Best Musical from both the Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards. Although it didn't win any awards, the show was gaining momentum, prompting producers to set their sights on Broadway.

Known for his Tony-winning direction of Urinetown, John Rando was enlisted as creative supervisor. Robert Horn was also brought in to co-write the book (he would go on to write the book for another country-flavored musical, Shucked). Additionally, Randy Skinner would now take on the roles of both director and choreographer. And working with Skinner was his longtime assistant Jeremy Benton, who served as dance captain and understudy for various roles in the show. He and I talked about the changes made to script and score as Lone Star Love continued to develop and prepared for an out-of-town tryout in Seattle.

Jeremy Benton: “It was expanded from off-Broadway as I understood the progression of the script, added a little bit more characters, fleshed out a little bit more. Of course, it's based on Shakespeare, so you can't really tinker around too much. I mean you have to stay with the scaffolding of what the Bard suggested we talk about. But I think the Red Clay Ramblers had written 11 new songs from off-Broadway to when we were going out of town to Seattle…That's sort of these the jump from off Broadway to Broadway. It was a lot more music. The script was expanded just to sort of contain more bodies and ensemble. And then a lot of songs were written, some were used, some were not.”

But to get to Broadway the producers and creative team recognized the need for a high-profile star. Beau Bridges was brought up at one point, but that never materialized. So Horn and Rando met with actor Randy Quaid in the spring of 2007 at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills. Quaid was a native Texan with notable credits, including Emmy-nominated performances in a TV movie adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire and a CBS miniseries about Elvis, and at the time was coming off a starring role in the award-winning film Brokeback Mountain in 2006. But Quaid was most famously known for his portrayal of Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation films. The meeting with Quaid went so well that it was described as a “lovefest.”

Randy Quaid: “The main draw for me was the music. If you’re gonna take Shakespeare and adapt it to 1865 Texas, I guess this is your play, you show.”

Horn was impressed with the actor's understanding of the show and the character, and both he and Rando believed they had found the ideal fit to lead their show. Quaid was also excited because Lone Star Love would be his Broadway debut.

Randy Quaid: “It's a real honor, you know, to play a character that is so well-known you know throughout the history of literature, and then to put him in a setting of Texas, and I'm from Texas. So I felt like, well, if I'm gonna do Broadway for the first time and a musical for the first time, Texas is really something I'm familiar with.”

But in their eagerness to get Quaid onboard, the producers offered him some unusual guarantees, namely that they could not hire another actor for the role of Falstaff. This was on top of other provisions in his contract that gave him surprising creative control over the production. And coming up after the break, Quaid and his wife take full advantage of that power in both outlandish and disastrous ways.

BROADWAY BOUND

Rehearsals for Lone Star Love began in New York toward the end of summer 2007. The plan was to do a September production at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle, and then begin its Broadway run at the Belasco Theatre in November. Randy Skinner and John Rando were in charge of a cast of 27 performers that now featured Robert Cuccioli, Dee Hoty, Lauren Kennedy, and The Red Clay Ramblers. And as far as Randy Quaid, he came in day one off-book and ready to sing and dance his heart out.

Jeremy Benton: “So we had this sort of expectation of, you know, cousin Eddie energy entering the room. And it was a little cousin Eddie, but it was also very professional. And, you could tell he'd done his homework all of he was off book. He knew his songs and music and everything...The Red Clay Ramblers were his little minions that followed him about through the entire play. Also playing live instruments while they did that…And, and he was wonderful to work with. He was very normal.”

Things shifted, though, when Quaid’s wife Evi was in the room. She was much more vocal and particular about the way things should happen in rehearsal, despite not being an actor herself. With her being so involved, asking a lot questions, and being so focused on ensuring Randy's star treatment, this caused some concern among the creative team. Her presence also affected Randy’s behavior, reducing his social interactions and increasing his agitation. So to manage her interference, the team assigned her the task of creating Randy's star entrance in the musical, which was to be in the form of a short silent film.

The concept featured Dee Hoty and Lauren Kennedy, who play the two wives in the show, with Randy Quaid as Falstaff riding into town on a Bronco to rescue them. He gets bucked off, flies through the air, crashes through the screen, and does a forward roll onto the stage for his entrance into the show. Evi helped film the entire sequence, using a green screen for Kennedy, Hoty, and Quaid. Once that green screen work was done, she was off to help them edit the short film together, and the cast and creatives really didn't see her again until Seattle.

Jeremy Benton: “So that preoccupied at least like 3 and a half, 4 weeks of her time…so we could get the show finished and choreographed, and put all the numbers up and put in the new songs and not have to appease someone on a daily basis about all of this other stuff.

And during this time with Evi out of the rehearsal room, the cast began to not only solidify the show but their relationship and connection with each other as well, including Quaid. There was an energy and spirit among the company that brought lighthearted fun to the musical, with everyone getting along and having an enjoyable time together during rehearsals.

IN SEATTLE

But once the company came to Seattle, things started to go downhill. First off, there was a problem with the fat suit for Falstaff, in that Quaid absolutely refused to wear it. Now this is despite the fact that the script constantly refers to Falstaff's chunkiness. There’s even a production number led by Falstaff called “Fat Man Jump.”

But Evi didn’t think the star of the show should wear such a fat suit, so that was that. Then came the constant suggestions by Quaid and his wife to start adding lines to the script that would make references to some of the movies he had been in. There was an idea floated of having a dream ballet of two gay cowboys running around Quaid, alluding to Brokeback Mountain, of course. Well, none of these suggestions were implemented, so as preview performances began Quaid just figured he’d take matters into his own hands…or rather his pants.

Jeremy Benton: “There was an incident on stage that I remember being burned into my eyeballs and thinking “this is my life” is when there was this some kind of entrance and Falstaff comes through the door, and he's supposed to be in his, you know, like, long johns, and then there's a whole scene after that. Without telling anyone—the director, without telling anyone at all—he entered the stage with a gigantic codpiece under the long johns. It looked like a Christmas ham wrapped around someone's hips like they were shoplifting a giant ham. And it got a laugh, but the audience was confused, and I gasped…And that's when things started going cuckoo.”

With Evi now more a part of the process and day-to-day happenings of the show, Randy Quaid was less of the amicable cast member he’d been in New York. And he continued to add things into the show without the approval or even knowledge of anyone else.

Jeremy Benton: “There was another incident…adding some kind of bit with one of the Red Clay Ramblers hats. I think it's Chris. And he like beat him with his own hat until Chris fell down on stage. And he wasn't prepared for it. He didn't know it was gonna happen. He took his hat off and hit him. He's holding an instrument, and he, like, tripped. That's probably, ultimately, one of the things that got him in as much hot water with Equity as he was, physically hurting someone on stage, hitting them with a hat until they fall down.”

We’ll get to the part about Actors Equity later on, but this incident with the hat was the final straw for the producers and creatives. So they came together for a meeting at a Cheesecake Factory there in Seattle, where they discussed what could be done to save the show and especially deal with Quaid and his wife. It was at this infamous meeting where the creatives, and later on the cast, would finally come to realize the full extent of the wording in Quaid’s contract that gave him so much creative license and control over the show—so much so, that no changes could be made at all to the script without his approval.

So in the hopes of resolving the ongoing issues and finding possible ways to save the show, Robert Horn, the musical’s co-writer, paid a visit to Quaid and his wife in their hotel room. He attempted a calm and rational discussion with Quaid in the living room area of his hotel suite, but the situation quickly escalated.

From another room, Evi loudly accused Horn of lying and was constantly disrupting any possibility of a peaceful conversation. Quaid himself was also getting frustrated as he tried to mitigate the situation by yelling back at his wife to "shut up.” However, Evi only grew louder and more confrontational, continuing her accusations at Horn, which culminated in a physical altercation between her and Quaid.

Jeremy Benton: “And all of a sudden, Evi's in the room with them, screaming, ‘He's a liar. They're all liars!’ to the point where Robert said, Randy Quaid just decked Evi right in front of him, after I think she was hitting on him. Anyway, they're going at it. They're fighting, and Robert said he just got down, and, like, army crawled out of the hotel room and, like, slipped away while they were you know. This is what we were dealing with.”

Keep in mind, all this is happening during the show’s preview process in Seattle, and as with any out-of-town tryout, there are constant changes that need to be made to the script and music and staging before coming into New York—in fact, the marquee was already up at the Belasco Theatre in anticipation of the musical’s arrival in November. However, with all the mess going on, the only recourse the producers and creatives had was to freeze show, meaning no more changes could or would be made to the script or music. They knew the show still needed some work, but this was their only way to stop the Quaids and their constant suggestions and surprise additions to the show during performances. However, Evi didn’t take too kindly to that move.

Jeremy Benton: “That's when the emails started. So if you can imagine this, Randy Skinner is on this email chain—myself, you know, the producers, the general manager, everybody. We open up the thing the day after the show's frozen, and there is—please forgive me—a screen size full picture of Evi Quaid's vagina in black and white, and it says in large font, “EAT ME.” And that's how all the emails started.”

So in a game of tit-for-tat, Randy Quaid’s wife began airing out all their grievances about breaches of contract and trust issues with the production, again directed not only to the producers and creatives but the entire cast as well. It was like a soap opera unfolding backstage. Here’s a reading of just one of Evi’s emails:

“With all the deceit going on and lack of paying key creative elements for the production, Randy’s contract being unethically passed around, he has no trust in the working process, he does not agree to any changes. He no longer trusts the creative team’s agenda or to honor his contractual rights in this production. He is not willing to make changes in the script.”

Quaid also hired a bodyguard to stand outside his dressing room to keep anyone from coming in who wasn’t “on the list” and to stop anyone from giving him notes about the show or his performance. So needless to say the situation in Windsor—both onstage and off—was not very merry at all. This is when Actors Equity becomes involved. The cast joined together to lodge a formal complaint against Quaid due to the incidents onstage and harassment happening offstage.

Jeremy Benton: “And that petition to Equity, we all had to sign. And as a part of that, if you have an Equity petition that's against you, you have to also receive that document and to say this is how many people. Well, she started doing things like she would take all of our signatures and copy them on the bottom half of a page, but write her own paragraph that says, ‘we, the company of Lone Star Love, hereby declare that none of the accusations are true and that Randy Quaid is completely innocent of all these accusations.’ And then our signature, which is illegal to do, not to mention batshit crazy. Like this all was happening during preview—early at the end of tech, into preview when the show was frozen.”

Despite all the goings-on and misadventures of Lone Star Love, the show did finally have its opening night in Seattle on September 19, 2007 with some positive but mixed reviews from the critics. Some called the show “lively yet unremarkable” while others complained that the show was slow and lacked pacing. In its review, Variety had this to say about the principal cast:

“Quaid is an interesting choice as Falstaff. The actor has a kind of outsized presence and louche appeal that’s undeniably fun to watch. (In his delightfully silly introductory song, “Fat Man Jump,” he boogies around the stage with surprising grace.) But he seems to be performing in a vacuum. His sidekicks, played by three members of the onstage band, are terrific musicians, but not the kind of actors who can feed energy back to a loose, spontaneous performer like Quaid. The rest of the cast (led by the able Robert Cuccioli, Lauren Kennedy, Dan Sharkey, Dee Hoty) seem to exist in another, more traditional musical-theater world; they’re breathing the air of one planet, and Quaid’s eating air on another. They just don’t seem to mesh.”

Talkin’ Broadway agreed with many of these sentiments and added in their review that “the show seemed like a 50/50 bet for a decent Broadway run, with necessary nips, tucks and tweaks.” However, such necessary edits and changes to the show were not going to happen. And as the show was heading into its final week of performances in Seattle, without telling anyone, Quaid and his wife left town. I mean as if things weren’t crazy enough already, they just disappeared into the night. So the understudy, Tony Lawson, stepped in to replace him.

However, Quaid’s filmed entrance was still in the show—remember the one where he would burst through the screen and onto the stage? Well, the artistic director of 5th Avenue Theatre, David Armstrong, decided to make a pre-show announcement before each performance, explaining that Quaid was ill and that his understudy would be taking on the role of Falstaff.

In an interview with the Seattle Times, Armstrong said that a doctor called them every day to verify Quaid’s sickness. And that the theater offered audiences the option to exchange their tickets for seats to another show in the 5th Avenue season, but very few people actually took them up this offer.

But at the final Sunday performance of Lone Star Love, Armstrong made some unexpected remarks about the production to the audience. He first acknowledged the company as a class act, who worked very hard under very, very difficult conditions. He then went on to say that the production should have had a different star in the lead role—“someone with a different personality and sense of professionalism.”

But in her own phone interview with the Seattle Times, Evi Quaid said her husband was very upset to miss the last week of performances due to his respiratory ailment. She also rejected reports of backstage dissension between the Quaids and members of the show’s creative team. Evi went on to say that a Broadway run may still happen as they try to figure out how to raise the money to keep going, so that all of her husband’s hard work wouldn’t just be thrown away. To which Armstrong replied: “I can’t see any way it would go to Broadway, because the vision of the show the Quaids have is at odds with that of the rest of the team.” And so Lone Star Love’s journey onstage ended September 30, 2007.

Jeremy Benton: “But I will say that it had its own little flavor and deserved a spot on Broadway, because it added it was a it was in the bouquet of whatever's playing on Broadway, it was a specific little part of that Broadway bouquet. And it had earned its right to be there because it was a huge off Broadway hit. I mean, the cast album is great…The score itself deserved that chance. And then all of the work that we were doing on reshaping this sort of Merry Wives of Windsor, comma, Texas, was really starting to highlight how great the score was and highlight these great performances.”

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE…

Imagine this show with its original intended star, Jim Belushi or even Beau Bridges, either of whom could probably have kept the show on track to Broadway. And who knows what would’ve happened? Could it have had a good run, maybe even nominated for some Tonys? We will never know.

And the sad but fitting end to this story came months later from Actors Equity, a labor union representing American stage actors, when all 26 members of the Lone Star cast brought charges against Quaid, maintaining that he "physically and verbally abused his fellow performers and that his oddball behavior forced the show to close.” They also claimed that Quaid made "sexually inappropriate" comments on stage, tried to eliminate characters from the script, and repeatedly missed rehearsals. In response to these accusations, Quaid said, "I am guilty of only one thing: giving a performance that elicited a response so deeply felt by the actors and producers with little experience of my creative process that they actually think I am Falstaff.”

Well, a formal hearing of the matter was scheduled for February 2008 to take place at the Equity office in Los Angeles, And of course Evi had to get involved. And on January 25th, she appeared at the L.A. offices and demanded documents for that hearing. There was a physical altercation, which resulted in four Equity staffers getting temporary restraining orders against Evi, and then Evi obtaining a restraining order against Equity. (Yeah, it’s just crazy.)

Anyway, in the end Randy Quaid was banned for life by Actors' Equity and fined a total of $81,572, which is equal to two weeks' pay for the entire cast. Although in a 2008 Backstage article, Quaid claimed he had actually chosen to resign and accused the union of “tolerating racism” and engaging in “witch-hunts and McCarthyism.” If I’m being honest, to me that fine seems too small an amount for all that the Quaids put this cast and creative team through, not to mention the losses suffered by the producers and future audiences, who will never see what Lone Star Love could have been.

Jeremy Benton: “My dream is that—I keep asking about it, and I keep wondering what the situation is with the script and the score and the Red Clay Ramblers and the rights—is that if it's been enough time now that we can sort of put the drama aside and if we could give this show, you know, regionally, anywhere, a new life. It just makes me sad that the whole thing had to go away because of two crazy people.”

——

For a full list of all resources and materials used in making this episode, you’ll find a link to that in the show notes. I’m Patrick Oliver Jones, researcher, writer, and executive producer of Closing Night, which is a production of WINMI Media. Dan Delgado is editor and co-producer, not only for this podcast but also for his own movie podcast called The Industry. Much appreciation goes to Lauren Kennedy and Jeremy Benton for sharing their experiences with Lone Star Love and to the voice talents of Maria Norris and our very own Dan Delgado. Join us next time as another production makes its way to closing night.

Jeremy Benton Outro: “And I have to say it's when his wife showed up that his individual personality altered. She was an immediate presence day 1, week 1. And she was dressed—I just remember her being dressed like she was a lion tamer or something. She had these boots to her knees, leather boots, and sort of pants, and this sort of vest jacket. I don't know. She looked like something, she—I don't know. But she was, in her mind, it looked like she was dressed to run the room.”