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| Ragan Courtney, C.C. Courtney. |
EARL OF RUSTON [Musical/Family/Mental Illness/Southern] B/LY: C.C. Courtney, Ragan Courtney; M: Peter Link; D: C.C. Courtney; DS: Neil Peter Jampolis; P: David Black; T: Billy Rose Theatre; 5/5/71-5/8/71 (5)
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| Leecy R. Woods Moore, Ragan Courtney. |
This country-rock musical is about a mentally challenged, small-town
Louisiana man, Earl Woods, who died in 1969 and to whom the book and lyric
writers were related. The character of this “town crazy” was played by both the
Courtney brothers, but they were unable to effectively capture his personality.
To give even more authenticity to the depiction, Woods’s real grandmother
played a part in the show, although not a professional performer.
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| C.C. Courtney, Jean Waldo Beck. |
A simply designed show using numerous lighting changes instead of
elaborate sets, Earl of Ruston moved
episodically through Woods’s life. Like many other such musicals in the post-Hair period, it had barely any book to
speak of.
The show was faulted for being garrulous, over-amplified, inconclusive,
dull, and ill-advised. Earl of Ruston ran
an hour and 40 minutes without an intermission—uncommon at the time, unlike
these days—and used an onstage band called Goatleg. It was gone in less than a
week.