Bruce Vilanch is a writer, comedian, actor, stripper and would-be adult film star (only if you have an IMAX screen). He won two Emmys for co-writing the Billy Crystal Oscar shows and lost a half-dozen more for other things. For four years he was a Hollywood Square, just to the left of Whoopi, if that’s possible. He starred on Broadway as Edna Turnblad, plus-sized housewife, in the musical HAIRSPRAY and toured with it for a year, including a few months at the Pantages in Hollywood. He has been committing television since the 70s, writing some of the most notorious flops in the industry’s long
list of same, which he just chronicled in his book IT SEEMED LIKE A BAD IDEA AT THE TIME, available everywhere books are still sold. There is a documentary about his life and work GET BRUCE, available for you to Netflix and chill. He’s looking forward to meeting you all, as the only thing he’s ever done that’s remotely Rotary is to put a chicken on a spit.

Bruce will also have copies of his new book for sale and be happy to autograph them for you at our event!

Bruce will be joined in a “fireside chat” by longtime friend and colleague Shelly Goldstein. Shelly is a writer-actor-singer-comic who has written for every genre of TV, film and stage. Her one-woman music & comedy shows play throughout the US and UK. She wrote the Emmy-winning PBS musical special, CHICAGO VOICES & Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVAS SIMPLY
SINGING on ABC.

Most recently, she co-wrote the CW’s 2025 series SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER, starring David Thewlis. Her play, MAGNIFICENT MILLICENT debuted in the West End in 2024.

She has written for such performers as Stephen Colbert, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Jay Leno, Larry Wilmore, Sharon Stone, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tiffany Haddish, Yoko Ono & many others.

Shelly has also won the New Yorker’s iconic Cartoon Caption Contest.

Dress Code
The City Club maintains a dress code.

Attire can certainly elevate or diminish the experience of others. They consider ball caps or beanies, tank tops, flip flops, distressed denim, shorts, team athletic attire, and t-shirts with no jacket as too casual for City Club LA. Their staff takes pride in their appearance, so they ask their members and their guests to respect their dress code at all times.

Friday, May 16, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Register In Person | Zoom Registration

The post Bruce Vilanch To Speak At Rotary Club Los Angeles & Sign Books first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

We Got Bruce
Bruce Vilanch On Jennifer Holiday At The Catalina Club (Aug 2024)
By Bruce Vilanch
Sept 1, 2024

jennifer holliday has been in the business 47 years and tonight i saw her give one of the greatest stage performances i’ve ever seen she was at the catalina jazz club in hollywood, to a packed house, and unlike other performances — we’ve done about a thousand benefits together — she didn’t sing to track, she had six musicians and three backup singers and she just didn’t do a show, she told her story. she started with feelin good and followed it with i’m still here, some personalized lyrics of course, and from then on every single number was about something real that has happened to her along the way and every single one was a showstopper. she’s 64 and sings like she’s 21, and she looks fabulous. this is her lena horne show, for those of you who remember’s lena’s one-woman broadway evening. like lena, she spills all the tea, she makes you cry, she makes you laugh and the honesty of it is bracing. she sings all the things you expect, with subtle, but fresh changes from the reccordings you may have memorized. she tells you how the songs happened and what happened to her life because of the songs. it’s an utterly unafraid presentation of a career, and she has had one with the highest highs and the lowest lows. f you hear she’s working near you, just go. you will have one hell of a workout jumping to your feet and cheering . hopefully, somebody will film this

The post Bruce Vilanch On Jennifer Holiday At The Catalina Club first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch

Saturday, November 24, 2018 | 8:30 p.m
Tickets: $37.50 General Admission | $47.50 Ltd VIP Up-Close Seating
Please note: There will also be a $20.00 minimum food and drink charge per person during the show.

Order you tickets online: 8:30 PM. For more information call 888-596-1027

Bruce Vilanch is a writer, actor, comedian, stripper (it pays), Muppet impersonator, and all-around suspicious individual. For six years, he was a Hollywood Square, just to the left of Whoopi, if that’s possible. For two years, he ironed his way across America and toiled on Broadway as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. For twenty three years, he wrote the Oscar telecast, winning two Emmys in the process, and four other Emmys for things that now show up on YouTube. There is a documentary about all this called Get Bruce, made by the Weinstein Brothers some years ago. Very netflixable. He would be remiss if he didn’t mention his luminous flop Platinum, which he co-wrote when a toddler. Never believe a biography that doesn’t mention the flops. His latest project is the pre-Broadway show entitled “A Sign Of The Times” (a new 60’s musical) , which he write the book for. The show will play The Delaware Theatre Company this winter prior to it’s arrival on Broadway. Mr. Vilanch’s stand-up routines draw on his years of being a Hollywood insider. Lots of secrets will be revealed!

Click here to see the Comedy Legends Live! menu

The post Bruce Vilanch To Play THE COCK ‘N BULL RESTAURANT & STAGE Saturday, Nov 24, 2018 | 8:30 p.m., St Bucks, PA first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Together, Bruce and Judy will fill the BIG & TALL order of making you laugh and laugh!

BRUCE VILANCH is a six-time Emmy Award-winning comic who’s best known for his four-year stint as a celebrity participant on Hollywood Squares. His stand-up routine draws on his years of being a Hollywood insider and earned him the role of head writer for the Oscars — writing for hosts Billy Crystal, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and others He’s also written hysterical material for other award shows, television series and variety specials.

JUDY GOLD is also an Emmy Award-winning actress and comedian, best known as the star of her two critically acclaimed, long-running Off-Broadway hit shows, including “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother.” Judy recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, can be seen on the new Showtime series I’m Dying Up Here, Netflix’s Friends From College, and she has recurring roles on Pop TV’s NightCap!, and TBS’s, Search Party. Judy is the host of the hit podcast Kill Me Now on CBS’ play.it and iTunes.

Buy Tickets: Click Here

The post Together, Bruce Vilanch and Judy Gold: Big & Tall Jan 27, 2018 Ridgefield, CT Playhouse first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Kritzerland at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal presents “THE BIRTHDAY BOYS: THE SONGS OF STEPHEN SONDHEIM & ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER” on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 7:00 PM.

Sue Raney was signed to Capitol Records at age 17 and, with Nelson Riddle, recorded her first album,”When Your Lover Is Gone.” Since then, she’s recorded more than 20 other albums singing Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini, and dozens of other Great American Songbook songs. She’s been raved about by such NY critics as Rex Reed, who says he’d travel to LA just to hear her sing, by Nat “King” Cole, and by Julie Andrews, who calls her “a marvel.”http://sueraneysro.com

Bruce Vilanch (Primarily known as writer for a variety of celebrities, including Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Billy Crystal, and many more, he went to write for the Academy Awards, and scored acting roles in the film Mahogany, Bosom Buddies, Law & Order, his own one-man show, and starred on Broadway as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray after playing the role for two years in the show’s first national stage tour.)

Music Director: Lloyd Cooper

For our 55th Kritzerland show we’ve taken two wildly different musical theatre songwriters and paired them up, since no one in their right mind except Kritzerland would do such a thing. Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber just happen to share a birthday in March – March 22nd to be exact – and we’re here to celebrate that occasion with a wild, wacky and wonderful show. As always, you’ll hear the known and the unknown, the common and the uncommon, from shows such as Follies, Phantom of the Opera, Company, Cats, Anyone Can Whistle, Sunset Blvd. and many more. We’ve assembled an amazing cast and back with us is one of our favorite guest stars, the inimitable Bruce Vilanch. We’ll have some surprises, too, so don’t wait too long to make your reservation. Speaking of reservations, be sure to read the new reservation information below. We’ve switched to a ticketing service for the cover charge – we fought against doing this as long as we could, but all the shows at Sterling’s now use it, and frankly we were simply having way too many people reserve and then not show up, without even cancelling, which means we turned people away. Anyway, it’s easy/breezy. For March only we’re the second Sunday, due to a wedding reception at The Federal on the first Sunday. Kritzerland is produced and hosted by Bruce Kimmel, and co-produced by Adryan Russ.

The only way to reserve now is via Brown Paper Tickets! It’s easy! Go to:http://sterlingsupstairskritz.brownpapertickets.com. This takes you directly to the BPT page for Kritzerland. If you prefer to reserve by phone, call (800) 832 3006. Live operators are available to assist you 24/7! $15 entertainment cover + $5 venue/security fee = $20/ticket. Email confirmations will be sent to you by BPT following your transaction. For anyone wanting to reserve tickets from your SmartPhone, go directly towww.brownpapertickets.com.

*Please note: Once you’ve reserved your seats, the BPT cancellation policy kicks in. You have a 12-hour window to make any adjustment in your reservation, or to cancel your reservation for a refund. After that window has passed, all sales are final. No exchanges or refunds.

Early reservations are highly recommended. Dinner reservations: DOORS OPEN 5:30pm. SHOW STARTS 7:00pm! Reservations have already started coming in, and are highly recommended.

Sterling’s at The Federal is located at 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601. The Federal Bar is adjacent to the El Portal Theatre. The North Hollywood Stations for the Metrolink Red Line and Orange Line are directly across the street, north of Chandler on Lankershim. Parking is available – entrance for Federal lot is on Weddington Street (directly behind the building) at $3.50. There is also available street parking.

For information (only) about Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal, visit www.msapr.net/Sterling-s-at-The-Federal.html or call 818 754 8700.

The post Kritzerland to Bring ‘THE BIRTHDAY BOYS’ to Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal, 3/8 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.