Hillbilly in Hollywood: California Dream Men

By Tyler White

Tyler White recounts his journey of leaving his small town in Kentucky and becoming one of  the European famous California Dream Men: including his personal experiences and the group’s experiences during its European tour, revealing risqué behind-the-scenes stories of drugs, sex, humorous episodes, and political entertainment drama that would capture the attention not only of the group’s many fans but also that of a broader audience.
He then continues his story sharing some of his unlikely adventures bringing him back to Hollywood where it all began…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyler White
• Release date: Sep 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9791222000480

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Tyler White

Hillbilly in Hollywood

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Table of contents

Introduction

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Acknowledgments

Post-Script

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Introduction

One of the most successful producers in Europe has produced such shows as Fame, West Side Story, Evita, Grease, Tommy and even made David Copperfield who he is today in Europe. This producer has an eye for talent that is untouchable in the European market.

About nine years ago, he had heard of the successful male strip group in America called Chippendales. He knew that Americans in general and women in particular were much more open with their body conscious attitudes. Women were giving men a top to bottom once-over, checking out their chests, muscles, behinds, and yes, even their crotches. He knew that in America anything was allowed; perhaps not condoned, but allowed nonetheless. In Germany and Italy he thought that nice girls were supposed to keep their eyes, like their skirts, down at all times. The last thing the older generation ever wanted was sexually assertive women knowing, much less talking, about orgasms, their right to erotic pleasure, men's sexual potential or performances, or that they found men's bodies provocative and stimulating to watch and touch.

The producer knew that the American woman had pushed toward new times with the women's liberation movement. But he thought that to bring a show like this to Europe it would have to have a different angle. In America these male strip shows were being held in discos and bars, which still had a little sleaze in the atmosphere. For example, the dancers would strip for tips, which the women would get to stick down the guy's g-string.

He decided to take the same concept to a much bigger level. He wanted to find the best strippers in America and bring them into respectable European theaters. It would be much easier for a wife to get permission to go to the theater than to the local disco. He wanted to give women a couple of hours by themselves. When they were around only each other, he knew, they would not care how silly it felt to let themselves go and just have some fun. Where else could women leave the real world of work, family and cooking, and venture into a world of fantasy?

So he decided to take six strippers to be the leads of the show and add two professional singers and another six professional backup dancers to have a full production. He then added the same lighting that he would use for one of his normal theatrical productions and did the same for the musical talents. The props were as impressive as the rest of the elements that he had added to the show. He wanted a name for the show that would evoke the American ideal of masculine beauty, youth and sexual freedom, so he decided to call it the California Dream Men. He then hired a world-known choreographer from New York to turn his idea into a full musical production.

The show opened and was quite successful throughout Germany. After a good year-long run in Germany, the producer decided to take the show to England. The show was banned from that country for performing an act of nudity on stage despite being warned not to do so. Finally, the producer closed the successful show and went back to work on his original musicals.

After about five years passed, he decided to give the California Dream Men another run. This time bigger and better. With a bigger cast and better performers. More lights, more exciting music, and better stage props. The show would be built around high-voltage, dance-oriented numbers featuring mainstream rock, pop, and heavy metal music.

The show would become a high-energy musical theater production spiced with raunchy, seductive movements and almost all the nudity that the crowd could handle. This time the show would open in France and move on to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and finally to Italy. Not only was this one of the producer's most successful shows, but it was also his favorite because he had created it. Normally his other productions were shows from America for which he would buy the European rights and then simply reproduce the American version. California Dream Men was his idea and project from Day One.

And in May of 1998, I, Tyler White - from the little town of Rocky Hill, Kentucky, six feet tall, with short, sun streaked blond hair¾slipped into this high-energy, explosive, raunchy, seductive musical experience.

1

I spent my younger years growing up in a religious Baptist family, attending church regularly in the hills of Kentucky.

My hometown, north of Nashville, Tennessee, was a small, simple farming community. The only thing famous near my home was one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Mammoth Cave National Park, the largest system of natural caves in the United States, which have been used over the centuries by people ranging from local Indian tribes to the famous outlaw Billy the Kid.

My father was a building constructor working throughout the Midwest of America. Before I was about age six he was always on the road. After I turned six he took an early retirement. My mother was a hardworking housewife. I was an only child who had been adopted at birth. I feel privileged to be an adopted child. So many children come into this world only because of a moment of passion and then the parents have no choice. I, on the other hand, was chosen and wanted before birth. My parents were in their early fifties and could not have children. They had been married for only a couple of years and decided that they wanted a child more than anything in the world.

Through my younger years my mother was the most important influence in my life. She was a very loving and caring person. She was very outgoing and loved to make people laugh. Everyone who ever met her loved her, and that made me want to grow into a person just like her.

During school I never caused any problems for my family or myself. I basically was a good church-going boy from the Midwest. I dated a few girls through high school but never met a real love. I kept my head into books and school sports. I ran track, played ball, was a cheerleader, and was in the band. I excelled in track and in band and at state competitions I always placed near the top in both fields.

At age eighteen I left home to attend college in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I was enrolled for two and a half years, but I didn't finish my studies at that point. It seemed that sports, cheerleading and parties placed higher on my list of priorities. I had gone every year, on Spring Break, to Daytona Beach, Florida since my first year in high school. During my third Spring Break in college I decided Florida was where I should begin the rest of my life. So I flew home, packed my bags, jumped into my new convertible and headed for the beach.

I did odd jobs while continuing to work on my degree at a local community college. I loved the beach, the people, and the thought of starting a new life, meeting new friends and making decisions for myself independently from my parents for the first time.

While living in Daytona Beach, I worked quite a bit with a local modeling agency. One day I received a call from my agent asking me if I might be interested in auditioning for a male strip group that her husband owned. The name of the group was A Touch of Class. She told me that she knew I had studied broadcasting in college and had a lot of experience with public speaking. She felt that I could be trained to be an excellent master of ceremonies for the show. I didn't really know what a strip show consisted of, but I said, Sure, sounds like fun.

She asked me to come over to her house the following night to meet her husband and asked me to wear a swimsuit to show him my body. The next night I arrived at their home and had a nice conversation about being able to entertain people in general. They asked me if I would take off my clothes to show him my body. After doing this he told me he thought I had a great look and body for this type of show. He asked me if I would join them that evening for a show that was being held in the same town, Daytona Beach. I said sure, because, as I said earlier, I didn't know a whole lot about strip groups, so I thought it would be interesting to see one first hand.

After arriving and watching the show I thought, Wow, it would be great to emcee for all of these wild women. The participation from the crowd was excellent. For a public speaker this was a dream come true. After the show was over all of the guys returned to their dressing rooms to change and come back out for photos. The agent told me that there was a radio station in the club giving gifts away as a promotion for the newly opened disco. He said that there was a simple raffle for which they needed someone to draw numbers from a hat and call up the lucky winners to give them their gifts. He asked if I would do this for him so he could hear me on the mic and see how I worked with the public. I readily agreed, since I had no problem talking on a mic and I thought it would be fun.

When I took the mic and stepped to the center of the stage the girls started going wild. They were still ready for more of a show. They started yelling, Take it off! Take it off! while clapping their hands and stomping their feet.

Before I knew what was happening the DJ had started some music and turned on the spotlight. Someone took the mic from my hands and said, Well what are you waiting for? Give them what they want.

It happened so fast there was no time for me to be nervous. I had to go to work. It seemed that this was what I had been trained to do. I used my gymnastics to distinguish my performance from the others. I began to remove my clothes with the movements of a natural stripper. I was happy that I had my swimsuit on from earlier or it might have been a different story.

The agent was so happy that he asked me to start the next day. I accepted with pleasure and continued to work for the group for the next year. We traveled to about twenty-two states throughout America. After about a year I met Michelle and decided that I didn't want to travel on such long trips any more, so I resigned.

Michelle was the first woman in my life who made me want to share my life with her. After dating for only a year, I asked for her hand in marriage. A few months later we were both blessed with the news that a little one would soon be on the way.

The next five years were some of the best years of my life, but many problems also arose between the two of us. We learned that we were both kids trying to raise a kid. Although I loved my wife very much, it had turned into love as for a sister. I had started growing in an unhappy direction, which was not healthy for my wife, our little girl, or me. After five years we decided that we would be better friends than lovers, and six years later now I know that we made the correct decision.

When my wife and I separated, I moved around for a few years looking for myself and happiness. I came home every six to eight weeks to spend a week with my baby. This pattern has continued since Day One. I have been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but never have I forgotten about my life with my little angel.

I realized after a few years of odd jobs that I felt I was placed on this earth to be an entertainer. Throughout my life I had tried to be on a stage of some kind. Originally coming from a small town in Kentucky, I didn't realize that this dream of mine could be turned into reality. In my school there was no drama class, school play, dance class or any guidance in any of these directions. I thought that acting, dancing and singing were only for people from New York with money and sponsorship. So I spent my time as a cheerleader and drum major, playing sports, entering talent shows, joining clubs in school as a public speaker and yes, later in life, stripping. When I was in front of people making them laugh and have fun, and seeing beaming smiles on their faces, this was when I was my happiest.

After spending a few years dancing around in the States I decided to return to Florida. After working a couple of years there, someone approached me when I was dancing and told me that he was casting a sitcom in New York and wanted to know if I had done any acting. I told him that I had done a little, just for fun, but not much. He told me that one character in this sitcom was just like me—a cute blonde boy from the South dancing his way through life on auditions for a job in the entertainment world. He told me that the way I talked, like a boy from Kentucky, was so real that I would have a better chance than the other boys acting to be like me.

Well, I decided to fly to New York and give chance a try. The audition was great and so was my trip, but the money for the show fell through. But the experience gave me a taste of what I wanted to do: live in New York and study acting, dancing and singing. I could work as a stripper at night and train in the day. So I found a small apartment with a roommate and off I went. Thanks to the cheap flights offered by discount airlines, I could also afford