Mitzi Gaynor Returns to the Stage in RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS

The Village Voice recently noted "There's no business like Gaynor's show business" and now fresh on the heels of attracting a new generation of fans with her acclaimed PBS musical documentary, Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years, -- Green Isle Inc. has announced the world premiere of Mitzi Gaynor's all new one-woman show, RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS opening Saturday, January 10th (8:00PM) at the historic Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you the first news of the upcoming production and even more thrilled to debut the show poster art and two of Bob Mackie's exclusive costume design sketches for RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS.

Mitzi 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 show-stopping life and career. RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS reunites the Golden Globe® nominee with the original creative team behind her acclaimed television specials and concert performances -- world renowned fashion icon Bob Mackie, who has designed eight new breathtaking costumes for Ms. Gaynor's return to the stage, Emmy®-winning director/choreographer Tony Charmoli (Woman of the Year) and Emmy® nominated musical arrangers Dick DeBenedictis (Funny Lady) and Bill Dyer (An Evening with Diana Ross). 

Along with a seven piece orchestra led by musical director/pianist Ed Czach, orchestrations by Ovation Award winner Colin R. Freeman (Songs My Mother Taught Me) and Helen Hayes Award nominee Nick DeGregorio (42nd Street National Tour), Mitzi will perform a virtual songfest of signature musical hits from her film, television and nightclub catalog including "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Honey Bun" and "I Can Cook, Too." The show will afford the performer the opportunity to reprise one of her fondly remembered television and nightclub characterizations, "The Hipsy-Pipsy Gypsy", in addition to performing a diverse slate of song selections from John Kander and Fred Ebb, Leon Redbone, Irving Berlin and Betty Comden and Adolph Green amongst others while also tackling new material from the recent Tony-winning Broadway hit The Drowsy Chaperone - all set to brand-new staging and choreography by Mr. Charmoli.

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.

For the first time Mitzi shares personal stories, moving reminiscences and behind-the-scenes 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.

Mitzi Gaynor first took the concert and nightclub world by storm in 1961 at Las Vegas' fabulous Flamingo Hotel. Her debut was met with overwhelming acclaim -- Life magazine noted "Gaynor started at the top and climbed even higher", The Los Angeles Times called her "The nation's number one female song and dance star" --- and for the next four decades she dominated stages across the United States and Canada, including the major nightclubs of Las Vegas, Miami Beach, Atlantic City and Lake Tahoe, as her television specials delivered her performing magic to the millions of viewers who looked forward to those annual must-see events.

The legendary musical performer began her career at the age of twelve in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera being featured in productions including Naughty Marietta, Roberta, Jollyana and The Great Waltz in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and on Broadway in the New Century Theatre production of Gypsy Lady. She transitioned from stage to screen at age nineteen with her first film role opposite Betty Grable in My Blue Heaven. She starred in seventeen motion pictures (earning a Golden Globe® nomination for her portrayal of Nellie Forbush in the acclaimed Rodgers and Hammerstein movie musical South Pacific), nine network television specials (garnering seventeen Primetime Emmy® nominations) and returned to live performing with countless concert productions nationwide.

This new production scripted by Ms. Gaynor and conceived and constructed by producers Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda, will feature classic elements of her fabled concert performances along with video footage culled from her television, concert and film work in an all new up-to-date setting.

RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS will celebrate its world premiere January 10 at San Francisco's Herbst Theater, a nationwide tour will follow with announced stops at the Haugh Performing Arts Center in Glendora, California (March 22), the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA (March 23), and the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (April 8). Additional cities will be announced shortly.

About Bob Mackie's costume designs for RAZZLE DAZZLE! MY LIFE BEHIND THE SEQUINS.

The sailor costume is for an Act One sequence where Mitzi Gaynor will sing her signature version of Honey Bun from Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific reprising her iconic sailor character from the film.

The magnificent gold pleated gown will be featured in Act Two. This new design echoes Mr. Mackies famous gold "sunshine" gown from Mitzi's Emmy winning 1974 TV special Mitzi...A Salute to the American Housewife.

The all new musical documentary, Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years, is currently airing on PBS stations across the United States (presented by WLIW-New York) and is available on DVD from City Lights Home Entertainment.

For the latest on Mitzi, please visit her website www.missmitzigaynor.com

To read an exclusive BroadwayWorld interview with Mitzi Gaynor click here.

Green Isle, Inc. is a talent management and production company founded by producer Jack Bean. Green Isle originally produced and currently represents the eight Emmy® Award wining television spectaculars starring legendary musical performer Mitzi Gaynor. Green Isle recently co-produced (with City Lights Pictures) an all new musical documentary Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years for broadcast on PBS and DVD release, and is currently in production on Miss Gaynor's one-woman stage show Razzle Dazzle! My Life Behind the Sequins, in addition to her forthcoming autobiography.

 

 

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