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When Andrew Munz was 13, he got his first job selling tickets at the Pink Garter Theatre. Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, he’s reviving the show that helped drive his passion for the stage.
“Being able to direct it is a real privilege, and especially now that I’ve brought it back to the stage where it debuted,” Munz said. “It really feels like a big full circle moment, as well as, in some respect, kind of like theater destiny.”
First produced in 2000, “Petticoat Rules” tells the true story of five women who, frustrated by town leadership, ran for office in Jackson and won in 1920. They became the first all-female town council in the country’s history, before women in the rest of the United States had achieved suffrage.
“Petticoat Rules” opens to the public on May 23, with performances every weekend through June 14 at the Pink Garter Theatre. Tickets are available at Tumbleweed Creative Arts.
The music was created by longtime Jackson artist Pam Drews Phillips, a jazz pianist, conductor and composer. Mary Murfitt, a playwright and performer best known for the Off-Broadway show “Cowgirls,” wrote the script and lyrics. Phillips will play piano while Murfitt will join her on violin for this rendition.
While the musical has been staged in 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2010 in Jackson, Munz says this year’s production features “slapstick humor,” bright costumes and a new generation of performers, while staying true to the original story.
Julia Gold, 23, moved to Jackson in October 2024 after graduating from college and landed the lead role of Rose Crabtree, a local innkeeper who helps ignite the women of the town. She said she quickly connected with the story’s feminist and historic themes.
“You’re told you can’t do something or it’s strange that you’re doing something because you’re a woman,” Gold said. “My experience has always been that, if I try something that they say I shouldn’t do because of my gender, it always works out.”
Gold said this take on the show is “a little bit campy” and includes multi-faceted relationships between characters.
For 41-year-old Jackson native Drew Bratspis, who plays narrator Nick Wilson, he’s reconnecting with a story, and a stage, that helped shape his childhood. He sold concessions at the original show in 2000 and his mother once managed the Pink Garter Theatre.
When Bratspis heard that “Petticoat Rules” was being revived, he temporarily relocated from his home in Tampa, Florida. He said the musical invites reflection on how the past continues to shape Jackson today.
“I think something that is important is understanding where you’ve come from,” Bratspis said. “This is just such a great opportunity to look backwards and see what people went through in this community.”
For Munz, reviving the production is also about reconnecting residents, new and old, with local landmarks and legacy.
Why is downtown Deloney Avenue named Deloney Avenue? Why is Crabtree Corner, home to Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop, called Crabtree Corner? Why is that cabin in the middle of the Elk Refuge?
The musical follows the people that inspired those names and the legacy they left in this valley. While Jackson didn’t elect another woman to town office until the 1980s, Munz hopes the production encourages audiences to reflect on how local stories still matter.
“It’s actually something larger and more important. Maybe, with that effort, we’ll be able to make this community even better than before,” he said.
