stage

Skin 'n' Grin (1973)/Marilyn Chambers at the Riverboat (1974)

At the time Marilyn became associated with Chuck Traynor, he had been planning a Vegas show for his then-wife and client Linda Lovelace of Deep Throat fame. When Traynor and Lovelace divorced, Traynor took his idea of a stage show for Linda and retooled it to suit Marilyn. Marilyn, who had sworn off making another porn film after Resurrection of Eve, was interested in legitimizing herself as an all-around entertainer. She signed to appear as the headliner in a burlesque show called Skin 'n' Grin, which played the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey in late 1973. Harry Reems of Deep Throat fame and adult actor Marc Stevens also appeared in the show although not onstage with Marilyn. On her spoken word disc Still Insatiable (1999), Marilyn said the Passaic show opened on the same night as a giant snowstorm and hardly anyone showed up. She performed several numbers including "Satisfaction," "Let the Good Times Roll," "Green Door," "Light My Fire,"  "Proud Mary," "Country Roads" and "Johnny B. Goode."

 

"Marilyn did not disappoint in her valiant job of singing and dancing, thoughher best talents obviously lay at other ends," wrote Allan Starr in the July 1974 issue of Mr. "Stepping out of a huge mockup of an Ivory Snow cartondressed in purity white, she gradually stripped down to bra and tights for the finale, when singing and swinging like an old man's vision of teenagelust, she disappeared through a green door."

 

After an undetermined number of performances Marilyn and Chuck sued the producers of Skin 'n' Grin claiming she wasn't paid properly. In 1974 the show was moved to the Riverboat Restaurant, which was located at the bottom of the Empire State Building in New York City, and turned into a solo cabaret act. A February 6, 1974 front page story in Daily Variety noted that the show opened on March 7 for four weeks with a four week option. It's unclear how many shows it actually played. The reviews were less than sensational in the mainstream press. When the show closed Marilyn went to Las Vegas to star in Mind with the Dirty Man. She wouldn't return to the New York stage until 1976 for Le Bellybutton. 

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Did you see Marilyn at the Riverboat or in Passaic, New Jersey? Contact me.