Download MITZI GAYNOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: David Elzer 818/508-1754
MEDIA ALERT FOR THEATRE EDITORS AND REVIEWERS
AND CALENDAR LISTINGS
LA MIRADA THEATRE
FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS &
MC COY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT
present
MITZI GAYNOR
in
“RAZZLE DAZZLE”
Two Performances Only!
Saturday May 14 at 2 & 8pm
April 28, 2011…La Mirada, CA…Mitzi Gaynor will bring her incomparable brand
of showmanship back to the stage in this new theatrical production, a glittering
multimedia one-woman tour-de-force of music and memories from her showstopping life and career. RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS is
an intimate and affectionate love letter to that fun “razzle-dazzle” era of show
business featuring Mitzi’s often hilarious recollections of famous friends and costars
including Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Irving
Berlin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Marlene Dietrich and more. Interspersed with
dazzling television & film footage and rare personal photos, embraced in a concert
setting, this two-act multimedia theatrical extravaganza is a once in a lifetime
opportunity to experience the electrifying magic and incredible spirit of a true
entertainment icon. MITZI GAYNOR in RAZZLE DAZZLE will perform two
performances only - on Saturday, May 14 at 2pm & 8pm at La Mirada Theatre for
the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.
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MITZI GAYNOR
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For the first time, Mitzi shares personal stories, moving reminiscences and behind-thescenes anecdotes from her life and remarkable show business career including those of
starring in such classic motion pictures as There’s No Business Like Show Business, Les
Girls, The Joker is Wild, making the blockbuster adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s
South Pacific and performing in her Emmy-winning television specials and nightclub &
concert appearances that secured her place as an entertainment superstar.
Who, with 17 films to her credit, became one of the top singing & dancing motion picture
stars of all time? Who conquered television with 9 show-stopping spectaculars garnering
17 Emmy® nominations and blockbuster ratings? Whose dazzling triple-threat talents
made her arguably the top female nightclub and concert attraction of the era? The answer
to all these questions is simply Miss Mitzi Gaynor.
The road that led Mitzi Gaynor to international superstardom began in her native
Chicago where she was virtually born into the theater. Her mother was a talented dancer
and her father a virtuoso musician. Family members and teachers alike were quick to
notice and nurture the natural born performing talent of young Mitzi who relished the
hours of dance & performance training she was receiving. Her instructor, the acclaimed
ballerina Madame Kathryn Etienne, knew from an early age that the young performer
was destined for stardom and encouraged the child’s family to seek that stardom in
Hollywood.
The family moved west on a dream, and 12 year old Mitzi was soon discovered by
legendary theatrical producer Edwin Lester who selected her for the corps de ballet of the
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Mitzi honed her craft in countless productions in Los
Angeles & San Francisco including Roberta, Naughty Marietta, The Louisiana Purchase,
Song Without Words, The Fortune Teller, The Great Waltz and debuted on Broadway
with The Gypsy Lady. Mitzi’s vibrant performances were capturing the attention of
composers including Cole Porter and Irving Berlin when noted film director Henry
Koster and producers Sol Siegel and George Jessel arranged a screen test that resulted in
a contract at 20th Century Fox.
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She made her motion picture debut costarring with her childhood idols Betty Grable and
Dan Dailey in My Blue Heaven. The studio, quick to capitalize on the vivacious talent
that would later propel Mitzi to the top ranks of show business, cast her in a succession of
audience pleasing comedies & musicals including Golden Girl, Bloodhounds of
Broadway, We’re Not Married and The I Don’t Care Girl.
Following this period, Mitzi met the man who would not only become the guiding force
of her professional life but also the great love of her personal life, influential agent and
marketing genius Jack Bean. Thus began a more than fifty year marriage and career
partnership that would result in motion picture classics, dazzling television spectaculars
and legendary nightclub and concert appearances that led the Los Angeles Times to deem
her “the nation’s #1 female song and dance star.”
Encouraged by Bean, Mitzi delivered a star-making performance alongside Ethel
Merman, Dan Dailey, Donald O’Connor and newcomer Marilyn Monroe in There’s No
Business Like Show Business. Following that film’s success, she was signed to a
lucrative Paramount contract, negotiated by Bean, which would yield three film hits, The
Birds and the Bees with George Gobel & David Niven, Anything Goes with Bing Crosby
& Donald O’Connor and a praiseworthy dramatic turn in The Joker Is Wild alongside
Frank Sinatra.
Now an established box-office star, Mitzi was cast alongside Gene Kelly in the lavish,
globe-trotting MGM musical Les Girls, but perhaps her greatest film success lie just on
the horizon. 20th Century Fox was preparing the film adaptation of one of Rodgers &
Hammerstein’s most lauded and successful musicals, South Pacific, and nearly every
motion picture actress in Hollywood was vying for the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush.
The film’s director, the legendary Joshua Logan, had remembered catching a glimpse of
Mitzi during a theatrical audition earlier in the decade. Convinced he had found his
“Nellie,” Logan championed her for the part. The composers concurred and Mitzi won
the coveted role in a whirlwind of worldwide publicity.
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The film opened in 1958 to critical acclaim and international box-office success. The
soundtrack, featuring Mitzi’s performances of “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta
My Hair” and “A Wonderful Guy” amongst others has never gone out of print and
remains to this day a perennial seller. For her performance, Mitzi was nominated for a
prestigious Golden Globe® Award as Best Actress in a Musical.
Following that success she returned to the big screen in Happy Anniversary, once again
with David Niven, Surprise Package with Yul Brynner & Noel Coward and For Love of
Money with Kirk Douglas and ushered in a new era of acclaim as a live performer.
In 1961, once again with Jack Bean’s encouragement, Mitzi made her nightclub debut in
Las Vegas. An instant sensation, she smashed all records at the famed Flamingo Hotel
where each night more than a thousand customers were turned away. LIFE magazine
noted “Mitzi fractures Las Vegas…she began at the top and climbed even higher” and
The Hollywood Reporter proclaimed her “flawless and devastating.” Great success
followed in each city she appeared from Miami Beach to Philadelphia, Reno and Lake
Tahoe and for the next four decades Mitzi would perform a new show each year and tour
the U.S. and Canada with a high-energy concert act that would solidify her reputation as
one of the greatest live performers of the era.
A highly-sought after guest on the nation’s top television programs, Mitzi made several
memorable appearances in the medium. In a 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show,
in which she had top billing over The Beatles, Mitzi’s sizzling song and dance numbers
made headlines. She also performed to great acclaim on several Academy Awards
broadcasts where her show-stopping 1967 rendition of Best Song nominee Georgy Girl,
before a TV audience of 65 million, was met by wildly enthusiastic applause. Around
this time, she began her long association with noted costume designer Bob Mackie. Mitzi
was his first star client for whom he designed an entire show. He would continue to
design the lavish, razzle-dazzle costumes that would remain a staple throughout her
performing career.
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ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING
MITZI GAYNOR will perform on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 2pm and 8pm.
Tickets range from $40 - $80 and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre’s website,
www.lamiradatheatre.com or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562)
944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Student, Senior, Children and group discounts are
available. LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is located at 14900 La
Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where
the 91 and 5 freeways meet. Parking is free.
To schedule press interviews, photos, press comps or for additional information,
please contact David Elzer/DEMAND PR at 818/508-1754 or by e-mail at
[email protected] or visit www.demandpr.com. Photos and press
information also available at lamiradatheatre.com.
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LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, now in its fourth decade, has
been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "one of the best Broadway-style houses in Southern
California." This beautiful state-of-the-art theatre has been producing quality productions for
its Southern California audiences since 1977. The theatre has produced several national tours
and is the recipient of many accolades including Ovation and Emmy Awards and Tony Award
nominations. Brian Kite is the theatre’s Producing Artistic Director. The theatre is located at
14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, California, near the intersection of Rosecrans
Avenue. Parking is theatre-adjacent and free. For further information call 562-944-9801 or
visit www.lamiradatheatre.com.
McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT combines the talents of musical theatre star Cathy Rigby
with Tom McCoy's extensive production and theatrical experience and has become one of the
nation's premier theatrical production companies. Credits include Tony-nominated Broadway
shows, long-running national tours, multiple-award-winning Los Angeles stage productions,
and hit TV specials.The number of major theatrical awards garnered by McCoy Rigby
Entertainment includes 3 Ovation Awards, 25 Drama-Logue Awards, 3 Backstage Garland
Awards and 3 Tony Award nominations, 20 Ovation nominations and 8 NAACP award
nominations for the touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar. In addition, the Academy of
Television Arts & Sciences awarded McCoy Rigby Entertainment an Emmy for Best Scene
Design as part of four nominations for the A&E network production of Peter Pan.
www.mccoyrigby.com