Billed as the longest running annual LGBTQ+ festival in the world, HOT! is a month long celebration of queer focused stories. The Off-Off Broadway downtown arts incubator Dixon Place has been hosting this event for 28 years. Those Musclebound Cowboys From Snake Pit Gulch is an original musical which was performed for one night.
Andy Halliday wrote the book and plays Miss Daisy LaFleur. He works for an east coast detective agency but gets sent out west to investigate a murder. Fond of wearing women’s clothes, this turns out to be a perfect assignment! Snake Pit Gulch is a town populated only with men. The gold rush brought them here. The town’s premier entertainer at the saloon keeps them here. His name is Topeka (Jordan Ahnquist). When the “boys meet me, they shout Eureka!”
The saloon is owned by Big Jake Slade (Rob Hatzenbeller) and he runs this town with a firm hand and a deep voice. In addition to coveting Topeka, he is swindling land claims for his personal benefit. He killed the last sheriff and the alcoholic Wheezy (Rob Maitner) has replaced him. Everything is going according to plan except that two brothers inherit a deed from their father.
Fresh-faced young cowboys Sam and Evan Cantrell arrive (Jared Starkey and Scott Harrison). At first the oddity of an all-male town is a curious thing. Through nicely written songs, this truly old-fashioned musical will find a way to lasso up the bad guys and let true love bloom. There is even a dream ballet to propel the story forward like Oklahoma! but this one is far gayer and much funnier. The music was written by Frank Schiro and lyrics by CJ Critt.
The jokes are funny and remarkably restrained for a drag entertainment. There is certainly some mild blue material. Nothing is overly raunchy that would declassify this charming little show as a family entertainment. The strip poker “game is so tense, my hair is braiding itself.”
Scripts in hand, the cast embodied these fun characters with straight faces. Directed by Steve Hauck, the evening felt like watching a fun revue in the Catskills. When Daisy lost her place in the script, the ad libs were even more enjoyable than the written material. Overall, Those Musclebound Cowboys From Snake Pit Gulch is more than a great title. This agreeable musical is for anyone who wants an easy laugh and “an old fashioned cowboy.”