Kritzerland @Home Again 10th Anniversary Show Announces Special Guest Star Petula Clark

For the 109th Kritzerland show, roll out the ribbons, throw the confetti, because Kritzerland is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The monthly Kritzerland shows debuted in September of 2010 and over the years audiences have heard over 2300 songs, seen amazing performers, guest stars, and musical directors. Since early May, the Kritzerland shows have been done online and have been very successful.

For the anniversary show there is an absolutely amazing cast, including very special guest, the legendary Petula Clark.

In March of this year, Miss Clark was performing onstage in the West End revival of Mary Poppins, portraying the Bird Woman and singing, "Feed the Birds." When the pandemic shut down all of Broadway and the West End, Petula retreated to her flat in Geneva, Switzerland.

Kritzerland Producer and Host, Bruce Kimmel, had produced an album for Petula on Varese-Sarabande entitled, "Here for You," and Kritzerland Co-Producer, Doug Haverty, had done marketing and design for an album by Petula on Scotti Brothers Records entitled, "Treasures, Vol. 1" which featured the Adult Contemporary Radio favorite, "Oxygen." The producers loved working with Petula and approached her in quarantine to see about participating in the tenth anniversary show, which is a benefit for The Actors Fund.

Dubbed the "First Lady of the British Invasion," Petula's career spans eight decades. She began performing on BBC Radio for the troops during WWII, and had an entire career as a singer and film star in her native U.K. before she invaded America with "Downtown," "I Know a Place," "Don't Sleep in the Subway," and "This is My Song."

Kritzerland concerts are mostly about musicals and Petula has performed in plenty of musicals. In 1981, at the urging of her children, that she returned to legitimate theatre, starring as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music in London's West End. Opening to positive reviews and what was then the largest advance sale in British theatre history, Clark-proclaimed by Maria Von Trapp herself as "the best Maria ever"-extended her initial six-month run to 13 months to accommodate the huge demand for tickets and received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

She also starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, appearing in both the West End and American touring productions from 1995 to 2000. In 2004, she repeated her performance of Norma Desmond in a production at the Opera House in Cork, Ireland, which was later broadcast by the BBC. With more than 2,500 performances as Norma, she has played the role more often than any other actress.

She made her Broadway debut in 1993 at the Music Box Theatre starring in Blood Brothers with David and Shaun Cassidy, followed by the American tour.

Petula became a household name in the U.S. by performing on dozens of TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Dean Martin Show, American Bandstand, The Tonight Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Petula has also headlined television specials of her own, including a legendary 1968 pairing with Harry Belafonte.

In motion pictures, Petula has appeared in the all-star rock-and-roll feature The Big T.N.T. Show, the musicals Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire and Goodbye, Mr. Chips with Peter O'Toole (the latter earning her a Golden Globe nomination) and many earlier British films.

As always with the anniversary shows, there will be new performances of old favorites, a lot of rarities, and a few things that have never been heard before. So, don't miss this celebration of the little show that could. There will also be surprises galore but those surprises will be secret until they happen. Kritzerland is produced and hosted by Bruce Kimmel, co-produced by Doug Haverty, with technical direction by Hartley Powers.

The rest of the cast is being confirmed and will be announced shortly. Facebook LIVE link: https://www.facebook.com/KritzerlandUpstairsatVitellos.

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