Carol Hall, Acclaimed Songwriter of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Dies at 82

Carol Hall, the celebrated composer and lyricist whose stage musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas played a lengthy run on Broadway, died on October 11 at her home in New York City. The cause of death was complications from a rare form of dementia, logopenic primary progressive aphasia. Hall was 82.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a collaboration between Hall, book writers Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and director/choreographer Tommy Tune, tells the story of Texas Chicken Ranch owner Miss Mona, Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd and their neighborhood of friends. The show first debuted off-Broadway at the Entermedia Theater on April 17, 1978, earning acclaim and moving to Broadway's 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers), opening on June 19, 1978.

Whorehouse earned seven 1979 Tony nominations, taking home trophies for Carlin Glynn's turn as Miss Mona and Henderson Forsythe as the Sheriff. The show later moved to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, concluding its four-plus-year Broadway run on July 24, 1982. Hall joined the cast of the show during its Broadway run, taking on the roles of Mona and Doatsey. A 1982 screen adaptation starred Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. An impending Broadway revival was announced in 2014.

Hall's one other Broadway credit, the sequel The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on May 10, 1994, closing after just 16 performances.

Hall's off-Broadway projects include Sweet Main Street (1979) (in which she also appeared in the cast), A...My Name Is Alice (1984) and Max and Ruby (2007). As an actress, Hall took over the role of Heather in I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road (1978).

On-screen, Hall wrote now-popular classics for Marlo Thomas' Emmy-winning Free To Be...You and Me and contributed music to Sesame Street.

Hall is survived by her husband, Richard, her sister, Jane, two children, Susannah and Daniel, and a grandson, Wally. A memorial celebration for Hall will be held in April 2019.

Look back at the 1979 Tony Awards performance from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas below.