It was Saturday night and for a change the youngest Cartwright brother, Little Joe, had treated his older brothers Adam and Hoss on an evening out. This time they didn’t go to the saloon as usual but to the opera house in Virginia City. Via a very vague acquaintance Joe had gotten very good seats in the theatre. At first Adam had been a bit skeptical but at pushing from mainly Hoss the eldest Cartwright boy had decided to go along as well. Their father Ben Cartwright was away for business anyway so what stopped them yet? So nothing!
The Cartwrights were all dressed up and they had a whole balcony for their own. At the entrance Hoss had taken along a poster from an about the play which carried the curious name: ‘The men/women show’.
“What a strange name for a play”, said Hoss.
“It probably will be about men and women together”, reacted Adam.
“St. It’s going to start”, Joe said to his brothers on a whispering tone.
Everybody looked at the stage where it became light.
A woman dressed in orange came to the front and began to sing loud. A moment later she was guided by a in pink dressed woman. Not much later there was at the stage a notable strange ensemble of musical women.
The music disappeared and a sort of talk therapy came instead. Quite soon the conversation had changed into a cackling whereby the chickens were whispering. This took so long that slowly the hall went empty but the Cartwrights just remained sitting quietly. Besides they had the best seats in the theatre and so often the brothers didn’t come there.
It was just after 11 o’clock when all ladies came on stage for the very few audience that was still present. But what happened then no one could imagine. The ladies bended so far to the front that their wigs fell off and what else that was fake fell also on the stage. At first it was quiet but then the laughter started.
“That are no ladies but guys like we are”, Hoss brayed with laughter.
“Little Joe takes us to the theatre and what do we get to see: a travesty show! I will never take my children to something like that”, Adam reacted sarcastic.
“Adam, you don’t even have children”, Joe said laughing.
“I say this out of precaution”, answered his eldest brother.
In no time the stage was empty and so was the theatre. The brothers rode in the dark night laughing loud to their home base the Ponderosa. They knew that they better couldn’t tell their pa about this visit to the theatre.