Dirty Jack's

There were three live theaters in Jackson Hole back in the seventies: Dirty Jack’s, The Pink Garter Theater, and The Jackson Playhouse. Dirty Jack’s was rather barn-like, but that contributed to the charm of the place. It seated about 400, with a rather large lobby in front. The floorboards creaked and it was decorated in ersatz Old West motif. It was like walking into a saloon in an old horse opera. We were rather intimidated by the fancy-shmancy Pink Garter Theater. They had an actual curtain, for gawd sakes. In 1976 they did “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” and I remember watching it early in the season and wondering if ANYONE would come see our show. It all seemed so crisp and glitzy. The Jackson Playhouse, on the other hand, made us feel kind of superior, with its small, cramped theater and low-budget production. They put on a lowly revue that season rather than a real play, so we were a bit smug. Still, I remember being impressed with their players. Bad house, bad show, but talented...

On a sunny morning in June of 1976, a leggy blonde dancer stood facing me in my room. Her big eyes were wet. She asked me a question. I stammered, “Wh – what?” She repeated, in a small voice. “Do you ever get lonely?” I may have been a yokel from small-town Wyoming, but I sensed opportunity here. The dancer looked at her feet and said, “I just need somebody to hold me.” Performing everyday is emotionally jolting. I knew she and I shared a loneliness and emptiness only two performers in the same company could know. We nearly lunged at each other in that initial embrace. For hours, until nearly curtain time, we soothed each other like newborns. I comforted her and rocked her like her back ain’t got no bone. Our sweat mixed and pooled in the muscled crevices of her dancer’s belly. That was the only time, and we never spoke of it again. Except it never happened. It all flashed through my mind in a microsecond as her words hung in the air. This beautiful young woman was lonely and needed so...

I should have saved one of the playbills from the shows in 1976 and ’79, but even if I had it would likely have been lost in one of my many moves from place to place. I have some vivid memories of the actors I knew at Dirty Jack’s Theater back then, but I have forgotten most of their names. Two that I remember clearly are Randy and Bob Houghtaling, a sister and brother pair of actors. Randy was beautiful: Slender and elegant. She was also quite aloof. Some of the band members were convinced she was lesbian, or at least bi, but that was probably just the snubbed testosterone talking. In any situation involving prolonged close contact of young adults there will be some sex goin’ on, and we were no different. The actors mostly lived all together in a converted motel, for gawd sakes. This was the pre-AIDS era. Copulation was inevitable, if not procreation. Anyway… Randy was the object of desire for many of the young men in the cast and orchestra, but I never heard anything that convinced m...

When I began this web site I thought of Nancy Stainbrook, who was the heart and soul of Dirty Jack's Theater, and I Goggled her name. I found a reference to a gift made to the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole in her memory. That is how I discovered that she had passed away. I do not know the details of her passing. I remember her fondly. Nancy Stainbrook was comfortable and at ease with herself, and she was utterly the same on- or off-stage. That was among her greatest talents. She was gracious and generous with her time and attention, even to the new harmonica player in the orchestra. Nancy, as it turned out, also was a harmonica player. I remember knowing that she had studied for a time in Hollywood with the Disney Company. It was clear that she was a brilliant set designer. She took that dingy old theater and made it remarkably light and limber, with the players splashed across the stage as if splatters on a painting. Her sets were 3-D, with motion and depth. It was fun to...

The orchestra pit at Dirty Jack’s theater the years I worked there was center stage rear on stage level. That’s right… The band was right in the middle of everything. The orchestra pit is normally off in one of the wings or in the footlights, but this was very different. The set was multi-level, with elevated platforms for the chorus and dancers raised about two feet above the stage floor on either side of the band pit area. Another platform about six feet high extended over the orchestra pit with stairs rising on each side, covering the band so that we were in the shadows unless lit by the follow spot. A couple of scenes actually took place up there above the band. One brief scene in “Paint Your Wagon” had three or four of the actors kneeling on the platform over our heads and singing some hymn in a cappella harmony. It was my job to play a major G chord on the harmonica on cue to give them their pitch. Just blow on the 2-3-4 holes of a G harp for a couple of seconds. Simple. W...

I know you’re out there! Now you can find me. This website has hit the Google index , so all you ex-Dirty Jacksters can find this place on those odd occasions when you idly wonder what ever happened to all those great (and no-so-great) people you shared a stage with so long ago. I’d kind of like to know myself…

The Fourth of July will be here soon, and it always makes me think of Independence Day in Jackson Hole in 1976. For two weeks, three of the finest, most outstanding country rock bands ever – anywhere – played within one minute’s walk from each other around the town square in Jackson. Cow Jazz was at the Rancher Bar, Tarwater was at the Cowboy Bar , and Sawmill Creek was rocking the Wort Hotel . It was country rock bliss. After the show at Dirty Jack's Theater each night we orchestra guys would all crawl from one packed pub to the next, soaking up the amazing music. As far as I know, all three bands have become defunct, but Sawmill Creek still has a web presence and still sells CDs. The first two albums are still some of the finest country music ever recorded. My old friend Jimmy Christensen was a member of the band then, playing pedal steel guitar. Highly recommended. When I came back to Dirty Jack’s in 1979 I saw a band in Jackson that was absolutely amazing… A bluegrass/Celtic ...

We did the show “Paint Your Wagon” in 1976 to rave reviews. Jon and Nancy Stainbrook, brother and sister who owned the theater, starred in the show. They produced a first-class presentation that year, hiring professional set designers and carpenters from Los Angeles. The earthquake scene at the end literally brought the house down. I played blues harmonica in the orchestra and had a small part playing straight man for Jon’s nightly stand-up riffs. It was like watching a high-wire act close up: from the wire. The orchestra that year was kick-ass, and the actors were a bit put out that the audience would sometimes stay and listen as we jammed on the honky-tonk exit music. The bandleader and musical director was a guy named Doc who played the piano. My memory is imperfect, but others included guitar/banjo (Tim), trumpet (Sean), trombones (Bob and a guy whose last name was Coover), and drums. There were others in the pit too, including a bass player, so please remind me of their names if y...

In the summers of 1976 and ’79 I worked at Dirty Jack’s Wild West Theater in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was a helluva good time, and a time that I remembered often. I would sometimes search on the Internet for any shred of information about Dirty Jack’s, but I found pretty much nothing. It was low wages and funky living conditions, but it was Show Business and it was in the most beautiful spot on earth, the Grand Tetons. At 7:00 each evening we would put on our makeup and perform for a packed house of vacationers. After the show we would head for the bars that ringed the town square and listen to (or sit-in with) the best country-rock bands in the world. They were the best summers of my life. If you ever set foot in Dirty Jack’s theater, please post a comment with your stories.