BWW Previews: DANCE TO THE MOVIES at The Playhouse
By: Greer Firestone May. 14, 2018
With the triumphant success of TV's "Dancing With The Stars", it was a no-brainer to mount a tour of DANCE TO THE MOVIES. It discos, sambas, thrust pelvis's, waltzes and jitterbugs into The Playhouse for a short run May 18-20. The kinetic production celebrates and reinvents some of Hollywood's best musical moments in film history. Aisle Say's favorite all-time is the choreography from West Side Story. No show would be complete without a nod to the Jets and Sharks.
Legendary scenes from "Grease", "Singing In The Rain", "Chicago", "Hairspray" and "Moulin Rouge". Exciting original dances from "The Godfather", "Titanic" and "Les Misérables", Willy Wonka" and "Harry Potter" are included, along with several other surprises.
To understate, this is a broad-brush stroke of iconic choreography and will appeal to a boundless array of movie and dance lovers.
"Dancing With The Stars' celebrity pros Anna Trebunskaya and Tristan MacManus will be here along with contestants from various other dance-related shows.
For even more star power, the producers enticed Academy Award nominee Lesley Ann Warren to star. Aisle Say had an opportunity to chat with her in California yesterday as she was driving for a fitting.
Trained in dance at The American School of Ballet, Lesley has been working non-stop on stage, in film and TV since age 16. In 1963,at age 17 she made her Broadway debut in 110 IN THE SHADE with Robert Horton (better known as a cowboy in TV's "Wagon Train". Warren danced in the production under the direction of the mythical Agnes De Mille, who singlehandedly created a seismic shift in American theatre with the ballet scene in 1955's OKLAHOMA!.
One year later Lesley was asked to audition for the title role in the TV remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA. (The first CINDERELLA in 1957 on TV starred Julie Andrews - before videotape was invented).
"I was so terribly nervous", Lesley recounts. "I was horrible. But the director had seen me in 110 and urged Richard Rodgers to give me another try. I went to his NY apartment. He had me sit down on the piano bench next to him. He and I sang "My Funny Valentine". I got the part".
Lesley's beautiful song in the show was the haunting "My Little Corner of the World". Ginger Rogers was the Queen and Walter Pidgeon the King.
From that point her career skyrocketed and she has been forever busy.
In 1982 she was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress in VICTOR/VICTORIA. (It must have been a hoot sharing CINDERELLA stories with Julie Andrews!). Many people loved her as the colorful Miss Scarlet in CLUE.
Her TV and film credits are endless. Lesley was in some of the seminal TV shows of the '60's and '70's: "Gunsmoke", "The Mod Squad", "Dr. Kildare", "Mission Impossible", etc. In the 2000's, she had recurring roles in "Will and Grace" and "Desperate Housewives". And she was in Aerosmith's vid of "Janie Got A Gun" (That was a complete blast", she commented and The Eagles "Life In The Fast Lane". "We were on the 10th anniversary cover of Rolling Stone for that one".
The producers have given Lesley two tunes to both sing and dance; both my Johnny Mercer, "Blues In The Night" and "Moon River". She mentioned that many times there is a Q & A with the audience after curtain. Lesley concludes the chat with the comment, "these dancers are not to be believed! I am in awe."
Here's a cool vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCHmvm-9SjE
May 18-20 The Playhouse 302.888.0200
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