Shirley Jones Hosts 'Hollywood Singing & Dancing' on WLIW21 Tonight

"Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure" premieres Tuesday March 4 at 8PM on WLIW21 New York Public Television.  For more information visit www.PBS.org

"Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure" is a celebration of song and dance, beginning with the Busby Berkeley films that lifted the spirits of audiences during the Great Depression, continuing through the patriotic musicals of the 1940s and ending with the collapse of the studio system in the 1950s. Hosted by Academy Award-winning stage, screen and television icon Shirley Jones, this "docutainment" film is a grand historical look at the magic of musical Hollywood. The program premieres March 2008 (check local listings) nationwide on PBS.

Highlighted are amazing songs and dance numbers, little-known facts, and luminaries such as Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Betty Grable, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, James Cagney, Vincente Minnelli, Stanley Donen, Frank Sinatra, Leslie Caron, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger, who made the magic possible.

Mesmerizing sequences are interspersed with fresh new commentary from Liza Minnelli, Leslie Caron, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Jane Russell, Rita Moreno, Pat Boone, Rob Marshall, Bill Condon, Shirley MacLaine, Tommy Tune, Joel Grey, Smokey Robinson, Patti Page, Tab Hunter, George Chakiris, Rhonda Fleming, Betty Garrett, Marge Champion, Joan Leslie, Robert Osborne, Stella Stevens, Gloria Stuart and others.

Featured films include: The Wizard of Oz, Dames, Fashions of 1934, The Little Colonel, Gold Diggers of 1935, Billboard Girl, Something to Sing About, Little Princess, Meet Me in St. Louis, Babes on Broadway, Yankee Doodle Dandy, On the Town, The Harvey Girls, Cover Girl, The King and I, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Till the Clouds Roll By, Royal Wedding, Damn Yankees, Gigi, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma!, Carousel and Chicago.