book by Bess Wohl, music and lyrics by Michael Friedman
Inspired by a tradition of classic musicals about show business, Pretty Filthy is the untold showbiz musical, based on interviews with adult entertainers. Armed with their notepads and recorders, the Civilians crossed the mountain range that divides Hollywood from the “other Hollywood”—the San Fernando Valley, world capital of porn. The artists conducted interviews and visited sets to get an insider’s glimpse into a world that is far more than the sum of its (very) visible parts. The Civilians’ time in the Valley captured a singular time in our culture; this digital era that radically transforms the business of sex. Pretty Filthy is ultimately a story about trying to make a life and a living in an ever-changing world. A task that’s all the more complicated when your work is so intimately tied to customer “satisfaction.”
Please contact The Civilians if you’re interested in licensing the show.