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Belting it Out with All My Heart!! |
 "The Color Purple"
has now taken on a whole new meaning for me......"EVERYONE" was in it. And for those of you have done shows at that theater....let me just fill you in.....even with a mylar floor brought in to cover the stage...all those highs and lows...dips and slants...there ALL STILL THERE. I
danced over and under each and every one of them! |
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Rehearsing the show was intense. We rehearsed six hours a
day...six days a week....at Paramount Studios...where we danced on Stage 23 with a wood dance floor brought in to cover THE CEMENT. You wonder how all those BUSBY BERKLEY BEAUTIES and numerous chorus dancers we
have seen from the glory days of movie musicals managed to survive those rehearsal stages and shoots all the while... dancing on those cement sound stages.
Since this was a brand new concept...our choreographers THE
WALTER PAINTERS with CHARLENE at the helm recreated a large majority of what we learned the first week. It was hard to get our bodies adjusted to new directions after having memorized everything fully for
a full week. |
Reunited with Dance Partner Steven Butler
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Look Out Thelma & Vera, Here Comes Annie & September |
That happened thru-out the process and I guess all
the changes were to make us look better. But it was tough to retrain ourselves. Also, they didn't want character shoes ...CHARLENE thought it looked clunky. They wanted us to dance on three inch heels.....and that was "the" only
time I had a problem with the show. In my life I never heard so much discussion about shoes....and every possibility I tried on was too wide....my arch didn't fit into the shoe,, I didn't feel enough support.
Everyone else wore shoes from some company called Fine-Line.....they were a
ballroom type shoe like the ones on DWTS...well Fine-Line turned out not to be so fine because as rehearsals wore on so did the shoes...stretching and not being "so fine" in the comfort department. |
Well, I couldn't fit
into those shoes so I went off to Capezios to see if I could find a compatible shoe...sigh! no luck... I had the sales manager at Capezio call the Painters house and tell them that what she had told me that she would not feel right letting
me leave with a pair of shoes that would not support or fit me properly. She didn't want that responsibility.
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The Largest & Longest Boa Ever--in My Humblest Opinion.
I Referred to it a the Boa Constrictor |
She sends me off to Champion Shoes ..and now I am getting very
nervous... I told the manager of the store that I have got to find a match for ..and I showed him a picture of the shoes...and I told him I wanted to dance in a smaller heel.....well, boys and girls while everyone was suffering and sticking
wads of cotton and sole and heel inserts into their shoes I sailed on and was happy to have stood up for myself. |
And yes indeed, I did have the
manager of Champion Shoes call The Painter Household and tell them that my feet were extra narrow and almost flat. Sigh! I yelped out loud over that one and he continued to tell them he was giving me something that would support me and look
similar to the shoe selected for the show.
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On opening night, one of the other blonde dancers who also had
narrow feet but went with the flow told CHARLENE she had to dance in her character shoes....she was afraid of her foot turning over which it had already in rehearsal and she had been hobbling around for a few days....and after all that.
...did anyone write-up about who were the two blondes in different shoes...not one word and if they did it would have been about.....the two happy blondes who danced full - out in comfort. |
I Didn't Know There was So Much You Could Do with a Mike
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Singing, "I Love You I Do," From Dreamgirls
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Oh, and after we had been fitted for our purple gloves and purple
dance wardrobe one of the girls thought and got very tunnel vision about the fact that our flesh color panties SHOULD BE PURPLE!!....Our costumer, JONI BERRY was ready for her - she told her in front of many of
us...with a big smile on her face "Unless you fall down and splay your legs open towards the audience - no one will see your panties!!" I never heard of the word "splay" but I liked its connotation and even when I write
this up I smile. The same dancer then said "What if the dress rides up"" Joni replied with her smile getting even bigger "Only if you gain weight, will that happen."
Dancing with a live orchestra can you ask for
anything better than fabulous charts . The orchestra was right onstage with us....Oh it was fabulous. It made me feel so great to have them right there with us. I soared. |
| The Tony Winning "JENNIFER
HOLLIDAY" ..the original DREAMGIRL...who looks so slim and beautiful now....stopped the show when she came out as special guest....When she sang "And I Am Telling You I'm
Not Going"...she brought the house down....and the sweetest, kindest person to work with.
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That's Me on the Far Right
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Whee!!
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So many people came to the show. In one review I was called
"adorable." Another said I was "terrific." But MITZI GAYNOR walked right up to me and told me "Your the best." She mouthed it to me several more times while people were
surrounding me. So, I was flying high! She led the standing ovation when the curtain came up on opening night. I didn't see that but was told because I directed my eye contact to the back of the house where I found the PAINTERS
standing on the stairs that led to the balcony - they were motionless thru-out the show.
WALTER who had given me a thumbs up and a high
five after watching one of the run-thrus a few weeks before told me afterwards "I was terrefic." That from WALTER PAINTER was like receiving the ultimate in praise.
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| I was introduced to JAMIE
LEE CURTIS--who I had always admired. She turns to say "Hi" and screams out and I mean screams out "Oh, its you!" Now, luckily I had had the comp of a lifetime from MITZI as well as
high praise from JOE TREMAINE and WALTER, but, I admit, I was bewildered. I went really quiet.
She then launched into "I couldn't take my
eyes off of you. You f-ing kicked ass!" She then went on about how I looked like I had so much fun and was so happy. |
The Costumer was Hargate and the Costume Designer Joni Berry |
Oh, JAMIE you were so right!! I was
happy! In fact, I was delighted we were finally up and running. No more talk of panties - shoes-I was a hit in an ensemble show. Yeah!!! |
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