Actress/playwright Ronnie Claire Edwards' play, Candy Barr's Last Dance,opened on August 11, 2014 at Theater Three. Candy Barr, aka Juanita Dale Slusher, began her career as an underage stripper circa 1949 at the Theater Lounge in South Dallas. She went on to perform at the Colony Club in downtown Dallas and later in Las Vegas. Her colorful life included a friendship with Jack Ruby.
Shortly after President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963 in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, the FBI rounded up and interrogated the strippers in Jack Ruby's life. When Ms. Edwards read this story among those resurrected during the 50th anniversary of the assassination, she began to wonder what Candy's former fellow performers might have been thinking as they gathered for her funeral in January 2006.
Candy Barr's Last Dance is the fictional story of three of Candy's fellow strippers as they gather in the home of one of them, Corky Latrelle (Mary Lang), prior to attending Candy Barr's funeral. The first to arrive is Tricksy (note the spelling) Dean (Cindy Beall) entering as if she has been shot out of a cannon. Soon Flutter (Marty Van Kleek) arrives, a bit more subdued. We learn that each of the "girls" has moved beyond her wild days to settle in with one man. Flutter has grabbed the brass ring by marrying a wealthy doctor, who, as a Tulane med student, answered the call of "is there a doctor in the house?" when she sprained her ankle dancing at a club in New Orleans. As they revel in their reminiscences of the good old days, plus a few they wish they had forgotten, they also conjure up a few long forgotten bumps and grinds, as they regale each other and the audience.
Ronnie Claire Edwards has a way with words, especially with her numerous Southwestern style similes and metaphors which fly thick and fast. Her script provides a rare opportunity for actresses of “a certain age” and all prove worthy of the challenge.
Lydia Mackay is spotlighted in cameos interspersed throughout the play from various locales in the audience as she reads poems that Candy Barr wrote while in prison. The play culminates with Ms. Mackay enacting a graceful and tasteful striptease. Rene Moreno's directing is masterful. While the audience notices what transpires on stage, the guiding hand that makes it all happen is often ignored, but Mr. Moreno's hand is evident from the opening scene until the lights go dim.
If you consider yourself a savvy and enlightened theatergoer you won't want to miss this delightful show.
