Country parody ‘Doyle and Debbie Show’ coming to Mosley Street Melodrama

A satirical musical about a fading country star trying for a comeback with a fresh young partner, which has been running every Tuesday night in Nashville as a cult hit for more than a decade, is coming to Wichita.

“The Doyle and Debbie Show” will be presented for five weekends – 11:15 p.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 19 – by Dennis Arnold’s Ex-Leading Man Productions at Mosley Street Melodrama in Old Town.

Arnold stars as Doyle, a flashy rhinestone cowboy who made a splash but never quite became a star, and Shannon McMillan stars as Debbie, a single mom desperately looking for her big Nashville break after being led astray by music biz promoters.

While not patterned after any real-life stars (wink-wink), you’d be forgiven for seeing elements of such star-crossed duos as Porter Waggoner and Dolly Parton, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty.

Doyle and Debbie join forces for more than 15 original – and decidedly adult – tunes that simultaneously idolize country sounds while lampooning lyrics. Consider such songs as “Fat Women in Trailers,” “Blue Stretch Pants,” “Stock Car Love,” “(I Peed Your Name in) The Snowbanks of Life,” “When You’re Screwing Other Women (Think of Me)” and “I Ain’t No Homo (But You Sure Look Good to Me).”

Patrick Greene rounds out the cast as Buddy, the duo’s patient, long-suffering accompanist on guitar and computer tracks. Directing is Broadway veteran and longtime local actor/teacher Tom Frye.

“I’ve been wanting to do this show for years since I first saw a clip of it on YouTube because it’s absolutely hilarious,” said Arnold, a Wichita State theater grad from the 1970s who has been an on-and-off performer in Wichita. He lives in LaCygne near the eastern Kansas border and has worked as the director of economic development for Linn County for 20 years.

“Bruce Arntson wrote the show for himself and has been performing it in Nashville for the past decade,” Arnold said. “When he finally decided to let others do it this past year, I couldn’t wait. Ours will be the Kansas premiere.”

Under his Ex-Leading Man Productions, Arnold previously presented “Ex-Leading Men Don’t Dance” and “Mostly Sinatra” at Cabaret Oldtown and Crown Uptown Theatre. Arnold made arrangements to present “The Doyle and Debbie Show” at Mosley Street Melodrama through owner Patty Reed, one of his fellow theater students at WSU.

“The show isn’t mean-spirited or nasty toward country music. The music is very well-written. It’s more an homage with comedy, an affectionate parody. I grew up in the cotton belt of Waco, Texas, where my grandfather was a Grand Ole Opry fan, so this takes me back to my roots,” Arnold said.

“Doyle is somebody I grew up with. Everything about him feels familiar, from his dialect to his yodeling. If Bruce had written him as a caricature, he wouldn’t be as funny. It’s his sincerity. The humor comes from real life.”

Shannon McMillan, best remembered for the ground-breaking “Next to Normal” and “Spring Awakening” at Crown Uptown Theatre, sees her character of Debbie as a dreamer, despite her past setbacks.

“She was a single mother of three before she was 20. Music is her passion. It’s part of who she is. But she listened to the wrong people for help,” McMillan said. “Doyle is a huge celebrity in her eyes because his fans have stayed so loyal, standing by him through three divorces, a breakdown and copyright infringement. He has promised her her dream of a show in Nashville.”

Doyle calls her his “third Debbie” after having been married to two others previously.

Debbie is a little too naive and trusting for her own good, but McMillan loves the character’s optimism, innocence and determination.

The actress said that “country wasn’t cool” when she was growing up but that she learned to appreciate country music when she was cast in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

“It’s become one of my favorite styles to sing because it has a lot of heart in it,” McMillan said. “What I like about this show is that it’s very smart. If you like country, you’ll love the music. If you don’t like country, you’ll have fun with the lyrics.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Country parody ‘Doyle and Debbie Show’ coming to Mosley Street Melodrama."