News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Annette Warren to Play Catalina Jazz Club and Feinstein's/54 Below this Month

By: Mar. 03, 2017
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Annette Warren, the "secret" singing voice of Ava Gardner and Lucille Ball
in such films as the MGM classic "Show Boat," and a nightclub, TV and
recording star whose career spans the past 70 years, will return to the
Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Thursday, March 16, with a special
performance of her new one-woman show, "I Ain't Done Yet". The show traces
her illustrious life with songs and stories from her beginning in Cleveland,
through her successes in New York, London and Los Angeles. At the amazing age of 94, she will also be bringing her show to Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC on March 30.

She will be accompanied at Catalina's by Bob Remsfield. Appearing as a guest artist will be
rising young singer Jacqui Hilton.

Warren, a classically-trained pianist as well as singer, was discovered in
the early 1940's by arranger and vocal coach Phil Moore, who recorded her
for the Black and White label. She also gained the attention of composer
Meredith Willson, and was soon traveling back and forth between New York and
L.A., singing in clubs and on radio with increasing success, receiving a
radio contract with RCA. She appeared at such clubs as One Fifth Avenue, the
St. Regis Maisonette, the Blue Angel, the Bon Soir, and Ye Little Club.

In 1948, she was hired by Paramount to dub the singing voice of comedienne
Iris Adrian in the Bob Hope film "The Paleface," which began a new facet of
her career. This was followed by two films dubbing songs for Lucille Ball,
"Sorrowful Jones" and "Fancy Pants". She also did all of the female voices
for the UPA animated version of the Frankie and Johnny story entitled "Rooty
Toot Toot," which received an Oscar nomination as Best Short.

In 1951, she read that MGM was looking for someone to record the songs for
Ava Gardner in "Show Boat," and she won the job over such competition as
Dinah Shore, Ginny Simms and Lee Wiley, who had all auditioned. Her
renditions of "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" were considered
definitive, and Barbra Streisand later acknowledged Warren's version of the
latter song as one of her inspirations for her "Broadway Album".

She had her own local TV show, "Annette Warren Time" on CBS, recorded an
album and several singles for ABC Paramount, and replaced Charlotte Rae as
Mrs. Peachum in the long-running off-Broadway production of "The Threepenny
Opera" with Lotte Lenya, Jerry Orbach, Ed Asner and Beatrice Arthur.

In 1958, Warren married legendary jazz pianist Paul Smith, temporarily
putting her career on hold to raise their four children, but continuing to
occasionally record and perform, including the acclaimed duo-piano Capitol
album with Smith entitled "His and Hers". Resuming her career full time, she
recorded an additional series of albums and also joined the show
"Hollywood's Secret Singing Stars," with such other movie dubbers as India
Adams, Betty Wand and Jo Ann Greer. More recently, she has performed several
sold-out shows at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood and the Warner Grand
Theatre in San Pedro.

Fresh Sound Records recently released a two-CD compilation of her rare
recordings from the 1940's and 50's and she is currently busy completing a
brand-new album for release this spring. Warren, who is an amazing 94, will
return to New York on March 30 for a special performance at Feinstein's/54
Below.

The Catalina Jazz Club is located at 6725 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. The
phone for information and reservations is 323-466-2210.

www.catalinajazzclub.com



Comments

To post a comment, you must register and login.






Videos