The Night Hank Williams Died, 1985-1990

This series, arranged in chronological order, contains material related to the writing, production and reception of the following theatrical works: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Kingfish, The Night Hank Williams Died, That Terrible Night Santa Got Lost In The Woods, The Golden Shadows Old West Museum, and The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public. Many of the manuscripts include letters from King explaining the history and background of the drafts.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, co-written with Peter Masterson is based on King’s 1974 Playboy article. It was first produced in showcase production at Actor’s Studio, New York City, October 27-November 12, 1977. It then opened off-Broadway at Intermedia Theatre in April 1978, and moved to Broadway’s 46th Street Theatre, on June 19, 1978, where its success supported 1,584 performances over the next four and half years and garnered King a Tony award nomination.

The files in this series include scripts, sheet music, screenplay drafts, a playbook, playbills, posters, flyers, reviews, clippings, photographs, tickets, T-shirts, a jacket, promotional buttons, congratulations and a 1981 cartoon by Patrick Oliphant drawn on a napkin.

The Kingfish, a one-man play about the flamboyant Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, was written with long-time friend and Texas legislator, Ben Z. Grant. Found here are scripts, programs, playbills, the SMU Press book jacket and clippings.

The Night Hank Williams Died premiered at the Memphis State University theatre. After several revisions, the play received its world premiere in Washington, D.C. in 1988. The following year it opened Off-Broadway. For this play, King received the Theatre Lobby Trust’s 1988 Mary Goldwater Award for his contribution as playwright and actor and the 1989 Helen Hayes Award for best new play. These files contain scripts, correspondence on rewrites and production prospects, congratulations, awards, flyers, posters, playbills, audition notes, reviews, clippings, SMU Press proofs, a playbook and screenplays.

The Golden Shadows Old West Museum was also tried out first in a workshop production at Memphis State University. These files contain a script, correspondence on revisions, playbills, flyers, reviews, and posters.

In addition to the above material, this series includes an outline of The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, a playbook for a one-act play titled Christmas: 1933 and a playbill for the same one-act under the original title, That Terrible Night Santa Got Lost In The Woods, and a prospectus and treatment for “Road Story” an aborted project with Glenn Frey and Jimmy Buffett, put together by the New York producer Rocco Landesman.

Also included in this series is research material and a script for a never-completed project on Lydia Thompson, an English burlesque queen who was all the rage in late 19th century America.