COWGIRLS

by Howe, Betsey & Murfitt, Mary

Jo is in a pickle: She has twenty-four hours to save Hiram Hall—her father’s once-famous country-western saloon in Rexford, Kansas—from foreclosure. Although the place has seen better days, Jo is determined to keep it open. But what will pack in a crowd to make the money she needs? Mickey, Jo’s hard-livin’, wise-crackin’ waitress has been dyin’ to get up on that stage and prove she’s got what it takes to make it as a country singer, and Mo, Jo’s cook/cashier, is right behind her. But Jo has other plans: She’s booked the Cowgirl Trio, sure it will save the place. The problem is there is no Cowgirl Trio. A minor misunderstanding on the telephone brings to Rexford the Coghill Trio: Rita, Lee and Mary Lou, classical musicians currently on a reunion tour. Jo isn’t looking for classical music but the Coghill Trio show up for a legitimate booking. These six women surely mix like oil and water: Jo could have had a brilliant career as a country singer herself, but gave up her dream to run her daddy’s business; Mickey feels she must have this chance to perform or all her dreams will slip through her fingers; Mo can’t bear to think that Jo might lose the place and will do anything to help her keep it; Rita planned the current tour of the trio because she and her husband are about to have their first child and she’s not sure she’ll ever perform again; Lee, always searching, has begun to feel like she’s never going to find what she’s looking for and feels they should give Hiram Hall a chance; Mary Lou, just about to bust from following rules all her life, can’t stand that Hiram Hall is not a real booking and sees her career as doomed. Fate must have brought these women together and they side out—it’s classical versus country. Can they meet in the middle? Sure thing, and when Jo proudly presents to the public the Cowgirl Trio, you can bet your bottom dollar that it raises the roof and Jo saves her bar!