Archived entries for

Dancing Feet! (LAArtsOnline.com)

42nd Street42nd Street hits the Pantages Theatre

Dancing Feet!

By Ken Werther

“Come and meet those dancing feet … on the avenue I’m taking you to … Forty-Second Street!” Theatre history was made on the evening of August 25, 1980 when this musical opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. After only six preview performances, 42nd Street opened and ran for a whopping 3,486 performances. It won Tony Awards in 1981 for Best Choreography and Best Musical.

Based on the 1933 film, 42nd Street focuses on the efforts of a dictatorial Broadway director trying to mount a successful musical at the height of the Great Depression. How did the stage adaptation of 42nd Street make history? The Broadway opening night triumph was overshadowed by tragedy when, following a lengthy standing ovation, producer David Merrick announced that the director/choreographer Gower Champion had died that afternoon from a rare form of blood cancer. Merrick had managed to keep the news a secret from everyone until that moment at the curtain call.

A revival of 42nd Street opened on Broadway in 2001, won the Tony Award for Best Revival, and ran for 1,524 performances. I had the good fortune of handling publicity on the LA production in 1984 and on the touring version of the revival in 2003, so the show is very close to my heart. This sparkling song and dance extravaganza is not to be missed!

“42nd Street” opens May 31st at the Pantages, for tickets and more information, click here.

Incredible Dolly! (LAArtsOnline.com)

Dolly PartonDolly Parton

Incredible Dolly!

By Ken Werther

If I told you that Dolly Parton is 70 years old, would you believe me? It’s true! The singer-songwriter-actress-author-businesswoman and humanitarian is the most honored female country performer of all time! She has had 25 songs reach No. 1; she has 41 career top 10 country albums (a record for any artist); and she has 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years.

Dolly has garnered eight Grammy Awards (46 nominations, tying her with Bruce Springsteen), 10 Country Music Association Awards, and seven Academy of Country Music Awards. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, she has composed over 3000 songs … and she is one of the few to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards.

This beloved dynamo is also a movie star! If you’re too young to remember them, check out 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Steel Magnolias. And if you are old enough to remember them, see them again! Dolly’s stage adaptation of 9 to 5 had its pre-Broadway tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre in 2008 and I was working there so I got to meet her! Unforgettable!

For dates and information on her upcoming 60-city concert tour, click here.

Additional Design Elements & Website Maintenance by DT Design Group
Original design by Ben Giroux Design