Columbus Monthly
Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Reflects on His Journey from Ohio State to the Oscars Stage
By Sheldon Zoldan
October 16. 2023

Ask Bruce Vilanch if he is famous, and he has a simple answer: It depends. “I will be in an airport surrounded by people giving selfies, and somebody will walk by and say, ‘Who is he?’ 

“So, what can I tell you? It ain’t Brad Pitt. There are declensions of fame.” 

If you still don’t know the name, you might recognize his cherub face—not to mention his attention-grabbing T-shirts, long, blond hair and red-framed glasses. It’s a familiar visage from his four years on the third iteration of Hollywood Squares. 

In show business, however, there is no debate whether he’s famous. Vilanch knows almost everybody, and almost everybody knows him. He’s written jokes for the funny (Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres) and the not-so funny (Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Cher, the Osmonds). He wrote for as many as 25 Oscar shows, at least 14 as head writer. He co-wrote Bette Midler’s Johnny Carson tribute, “You Made Me Watch You,” for her Emmy-winning appearance on the late night host’s last regular show. Vilanch is famous enough to have had a documentary made about him, “Get Bruce.”

On Oct. 20, he returns to Ohio State to host “The Lantern Reunion: An Evening with Bruce Vilanch, the Almost Famous Buckeye,” sponsored by the School of Communication.

Born in 1948 in New York City, Vilanch was adopted four days later and whisked away to Patterson, New Jersey, where he grew up as a happy, chubby, only child who fell in love with the theater. “I was not one of the cool kids,” he says. “What made me palatable to them was I performed.” 

He did summer stock as a teenager, sharing billing with well-known actors of the time, like Tallulah Bankhead and Ethel Merman. Vilanch wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh because of its theater program, but his perfect SAT score in English didn’t counterbalance his 350 score in math. “I couldn’t make change; I was terrible,” he says.  

So, it was off to Ohio State. “I said OK, I’ll go to Ohio State because it had a big journalism school, and it had a theater department, and it was an hour by plane, which was as long as the leash would go,” Vilanch says. 

He started school in 1965, just as the Vietnam War protests were percolating. Vilanch began working for the school newspaper, The Lantern, first as a reporter and then in various editing roles. Being a reporter wasn’t easy. “It was difficult because I was trying to be fair and balanced,” he says, “but I was anti-Vietnam, and I was mad at the [school] administration that they would not do a Black studies course.” 

He took to the stage like he did to journalism. On campus and off, he acted in plays, such as “Carnival,” “Finian’s Rainbow” and the “Glass Menagerie,” to name a few. His favorite was “My Fair Lady.” “Because it was a big show at Mershon [Auditorium], and I played Doolittle the father, and he had a lot of great numbers, and I got to do a lot of dancing and carrying on.” 

Vilanch had a great time in Columbus. “I loved being in Columbus,” he says. German Village was a constant stop. “Very artsy people were living there, and it wasn’t gentrified the way it is now. So, we would go down there with a group that did plays.” 

He finished his five-year program in 1970 minus a graduation ceremony. The school shut down early because of campus protests after the Kent State shootings. “It was probably the only time that the commencement speaker got a kill fee because they canceled,” he jokes. 

That speaker? “It was Walter Cronkite, and I think it cost them a little bit of money.” 

Vilanch’s next stop was the Chicago Tribune as a feature writer; that’s where he met Bette Midler when she was a newcomer performing at a local nightclub. He loved her act, but in his critique, he said she should talk more on stage because she was funny. She asked him to write some lines for her. 

He soon was off to Hollywood where he wrote for the Manhattan Transfer’s summer variety show. Then he moved on to writing for Donnie and Marie Osmond’s variety show, the Brady Bunch variety show, Sonny and Cher, and others. 

Vilanch first wrote for the Oscars telecast in 1989. He was one of the few survivors of a reviled program that included Rob Lowe and Snow White opening with a song medley. 

He had the title of head writer from 2000 to 2014. Vilanch is like a parent who doesn’t want to name a favorite child, but he thought the Hugh Jackman-hosted show was terrific, as were two or three of Billy Crystal’s, Steve Martin’s first show and Whoopi Goldberg’s. 

These days, Vilanch keeps busy with several projects. He just finished a book, “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time,” about how he wrote some of the worst television shows—including the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special—but survived. 

He also co-wrote a musical, “Here You Come Again,” about a down-and-out waiter stuck in his parents’ home during COVID. The server tries to stay sane by talking to an imaginary Dolly Parton. 

The musical has two characters and 12 Parton songs. It has played in six venues around the country. “We’re going to see what happens with it; so far it’s been a hit every place, and audiences love it,” he says. 

Bruce Vilanch Discusses Some of His Famous Collaborators 

Bette Midler: “She’s one of the few performers I know who can turn on a dime. She can have you laughing hysterically one minute and crying the next.” 

Billy Crystal: “He’s the last of the vaudevillians. He can do everything. He can sing, dance, tell jokes. He can break your heart, and he can probably juggle. He’s a full-service performer.” 

Whoopi Goldberg: “She is unique. There’s nothing like her. She’s equal parts street and Upper East Side.” 

Robin Williams: “He was a force of nature, which is a cheap way of saying he was explosive. There’s nobody who was that fast and funny and congenial at the same time.” 

Cher: “She’s a survivor. She’s had hits in every single decade. She has managed to reinvent herself while still being Cher the whole time.” 

Steve Martin: “He’s an oddball. His stuff is at another level. He has a quality of absurdism about what he does.” 

Bruce Vilanch Recalls a College Prank by R.L. Stine

The Sundial was a campus humor magazine that loved to make fun of The Lantern, the student newspaper. Jovial Bob Stine was the irreverent editor of the magazine, and in one issue put an ad on the back page for a pizzeria offering cheap pizza. The phone number wasn’t the pizzeria’s; it was The Lantern city desk. 

“I was on the desk, and these calls kept coming in from every dorm for pizza orders,” Vilanch says. “I couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Of course, it was Jovial Bob, getting revenge for something we had written about him.” 

Jovial Bob became R.L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps book series for young teens. 

This is an expanded version of a story from the October 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly. 

The post Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Reflects on His Journey from Ohio State to the Oscars Stage first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Broadway World
Featuring appearances By Bruce Vilanch, Megan Hilty, Matthew Morrison, Marisha Wallace and Marissa Jaret Winokur.
by Alexa Criscitiello
Sep. 16, 2021

The Foundation for New American Musicals presents the 2021 FNAM All-star Benefit and Fundraiser. The evening will honor Tony/Grammy/Emmy Award-winner Marc Shaiman (Hairspray and Mary Poppins Returns), who will receive FNAM’s first Inspire Award; and FNAM Founding-member Robert Klein, who will receive the first Founders Award.

The Foundation for New American Musicals presents the 2021 FNAM All-star Benefit and Fundraiser. The evening will honor Tony/Grammy/Emmy Award-winner Marc Shaiman (Hairspray and Mary Poppins Returns), who will receive FNAM’s first Inspire Award; and FNAM Founding-member Robert Klein, who will receive the first Founders Award.

The evening will include performances by Broadway favorites Megan Hilty (Broadway’s Wicked, Broadway’s 9 to 5: The Musical, NBC’s Smashed), Matthew Morrison (Broadway’s Hairspray, Broadway’s Finding Neverland, Fox’s Glee), Bruce Vilanch (Academy Award Writer – recipient of two Emmy Awards), Marisha Wallace (Broadway’s Aladdin, Broadway’s Something Rotten!, West End’s Hairspray) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Broadway’s Hairspray – Tony Award-winner, CBS Celebrity Big Brother – Winner).

Where To Buy Tickets

The live, limited-capacity benefit and fundraiser is on Sunday, October 24 at 4:00 p.m., and will be held at a private residence in the Pacific Palisades, California. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 17 at www.FNAM.us.

“The Foundation of New American Musicals is proud to honor one of its founders, Bob Klein. Bob has always been a driving force in FNAM and continues to be a vital part of our organization. Bob is receiving the first Founders Award to recognize his considerable support for emerging writers of musical theatre. We are also thrilled to present the first Inspire Award to someone who does indeed inspire us all: Marc Shaiman. Marc is the epitome of the success we all hope the writers FNAM supports will have. His extraordinary achievements stretch across all forms of entertainment – film, TV and of course, theatre. We are also delighted to have Marc serve as a member of our Advisory Board,” said FNAM Board President, Michael Donovan.

Performances

He added, “And what a fun event this will be! Megan Hilty, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Marisha Wallace, Bruce Vilanch, and Matthew Morrison – with more appearances to be announced – all there to thrill us with their performances, and to honor Marc – who will also be on stage. I hope that you’ll join us!”

Tickets to FNAM’s Benefit are $150.00 each and include a reception, special performances, and silent auction. Proceeds will benefit FNAM and its programs. Tickets are available at www.FNAM.us.

The benefit will be held at a private residence in the Pacific Palisades. The address will be given upon purchase of benefit tickets. Capacity is limited. Proof of vaccination and the wearing of masks are required.

For more information visit www.FNAM.us.

The post The Foundation for New American Musicals to Honor Marc Shaiman and Robert Klein first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

PopGeeks.com
The Flashback Interview: Bruce Vilanch
By JOHNNY CAPS
AUGUST 10, 2021

I first came to know of Bruce Vilanch’s work in the 1990s. Whether it was through the jokes he wrote for Academy Awards hosts like Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal, or through his deliciously saucy answers on the late-90s incarnation of Hollywood Squares, Mr. Vilanch made quite an impression on me. In 2021, with the assistance of Clay Mills of The Katz Company, I was able to set up an e-mail interview with Mr. Vilanch about various aspects of his work. Even in written format, his unique wit comes shining through, and I hope you all enjoy this interview.

Johnny: One of your very first television writing credits was for a variety show pilot for Charo. With Charo as a jumping-off point, when you’ve written jokes for international performers, have any of them had difficulty understanding your style and references, or are they able to pick up on it pretty quickly?

Bruce: Depends on how much English they have and how strong their dialect is, and if they are in the business of making fun of themselves, like Charo.  With her, the more ridiculous the better.  She loves doing jokes that feature her mangling her adopted tongue. In fact, give her that sentence and she will get a three-minute laugh and wind up showing the audience her tongue.  I didn’t write, it, but I was in a movie with Marcello Mastroianni many years ago.  He was extremely suave and pulled-together, and he spoke English, but he felt his accent made him sound like Chico Marx, or the guy on TV selling spicy meat-a-balls.  He didn’t want to be looked on as a clown, so he pretended he didn’t speak English.  On set, we would speak French to each other.  It was an Italian picture of the 70s, so we each learned the lines in whatever language we liked and spoke them that way, as it was all going to be dubbed later.  I think I was dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge.

Johnny: In addition to your work in creating jokes, you’re also an accomplished songwriter, and one of your credits as a songwriter was the title theme for the 1985 Stephen King adaptation Cat’s Eye. That movie was produced by Dino De Laurentiis, so as you have many stories about larger-than-life Hollywood personas, do you have any stories about Dino?

Bruce: Not about that picture, where I wrote the song with Jacques Morali (creator of The Village People), but when I was at the Chicago Tribune, I interviewed Dino at his palatial apartment on Central Park South, with the absolutely gorgeous Silvana Mangano floating in and out and their absolutely gorgeous children making a racket somewhere on the south forty. If I remember correctly, he was about to come to Chicago to shoot a mafia picture, and he wound up asking me more things than I asked him,  and the food was absolutely gorgeous.

Johnny: In 1987, you worked with The Walt Disney Company on two very different TV specials, Walt Disney World Celebrity Circus and Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville. What was it like to be working with Disney in the time period when they were well into recovery from the failure of The Black Cauldron, yet still a long way from the top of the entertainment world?

Bruce: They didn’t talk much about The Black Cauldron.  I believe that was a holdover from the previous administration, the last one with a Disney relative in charge, before my people — the Jews! — took over.  At that point, I don’t think Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, both of whom I had worked with elsewhere, were much interested in Disney’s variety TV production.  The Constitution special was a passion project of Richard Dreyfuss, who was making some big comedies for them, and so they got behind it.  Also, it was a nice idea to try to educate an audience about the Constitution in a hopefully entertaining way. There were lots of names, but my favorite was Whoopi, with whom I got to work very closely and with whom I still work with very closely many x’s and o’s later.

The Celebrity Circus was more or less executed by the parks division, as it was a big plug for Walt Disney World.  We all flew to Orlando.  Tony Randall, far too erudite for this sort of carry-on, was the host and we had a fantastic time.  It was wonderful to watch him work surrounded by circus people and Disney characters, and see him cast a baleful eye at all of them.  He was determined to have one of the acts done to classical music, but I don’t think that happened.  On a private note, the Cosby kids were guests on the show, and I got to take a hot tub with Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, and I fell in love with an elephant trainer, but that may be my YA novel.

Johnny: You’ve written for many Academy Awards ceremonies over the years. Although you’re well-known for your jokes on the Oscars, did you ever write any more serious segments for the show, and if so, which are you most proud of having written?

Bruce: Here’s the sick part.  I remember the jokes.  I don’t remember any of the serious stuff.  I know I did some.  There were always other writers who were not too funny, but very grown-up and elegant when they wrote about the various disciplines.  It’s difficult to come up with something meaningful about sound effects editing, but they did it.  These same writers generally blanched when I told them Martin Short and Carrie Fisher were going to present an award together, and their dialogue was going to be entirely about the fact that they were each wearing the same dress.

Johnny: When I watched the 93rd Academy Awards this year, I found it to be very dry and rather bereft of humor, and I really wish you had been involved in the show to give it a boost of fun. What would you have done differently if you were part of the Oscars writing staff for this year’s show?

Bruce: I would have bought a house for the comic personality who would agree to host the show.  I would have told the new producers that there is a good reason we always give one of the acting awards in the first half-hour.  People want to see stars and emotions.  They are not so interested in the origin stories of writers.  I would have moved the show around a little so it didn’t look like Stork Club night at the high school prom, with a curtain draped over the hoops and the bleachers arranged as nightclub tables.  Does anyone tune in to the Oscars to see a low-key intimate show?

When the highlights of the evening are Glenn Close doing Da Butt and Frances McDormand calling to her pack, I think it’s not unfair to say something is awry.  I actually think the Academy missed a good bet not shooting the whole thing at the new museum, which they are attempting to make a hot SoCal destination like Disneyland and Universal.  Clean it up and put it on worldwide TV.  They will come.

Johnny: Jumping back to the 90s, you were a regular for several years on the late 90s/early 00s revival of Hollywood Squares. What joke, or jokes, would you say were the funniest you had written for that show during your time on it?

Bruce: I know a few jokes I loved.  One of the biggest laughs I got was when Tom Bergeron asked me which television show boldly goes where no man has gone before.  I said: Ellen.  I also mentioned that Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn were going around New York camouflaged as Maury Povich and Connie Chung.  At the time, it was a big laugh.

Johnny: Going forward into the 00s, you did a season of the VH1 Celebreality series Celebrity Fit Club. I’ve asked this question of several reality TV veterans, including Rocky DeMarco and Jeana Keough, and I’d like to ask it of you as well: How much reality would you say is in reality television?

Bruce: The first rule of reality TV is nothing is real.  They have an arc worked out for each person, and they guide you into giving them what they want by having a little meeting with you each week and telling you things to make you mad or upset at a specific person.  Since we were all professionals on that show — it was not The Biggest Loser — we figured out how to give it to them without making fools of ourselves.  They want you to lose it.  It’s good TV.  If you don’t play along, they edit you out or they make you look like a crazy person.  Paddy Chayefsky lives!

Johnny: Platinum, the 1979 Broadway musical you co-wrote the book for, was revived in 2010 by UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. Were you involved in the revival, and if not, would you have been interested in doing so?

Bruce: I was marginally involved.  Ben West had written a new version of the show, not all that different, and we gave him the right to do that.  My principal worry after Platinum flopped was that I would have to sit under the poster on Joe Allen’s wall for the rest of my life.  I told Joe and he asked how long we ran.  I told him, 33 performances.  He said, “Are you kidding?  You were a smash.  You have to close opening night to get on this wall,  or better, in New Haven!”

Johnny: You’re well-known for wearing humorous T-shirts of various kinds. What’s the origin behind that style, and what shirt would you say is your favorite?

Bruce: I was a portly child with a perfectionist mother who always made me dress a certain way, and I have been in rebellion my entire life.  T-shirts were the perfect out, especially when I moved to LA and discovered you can go almost anywhere wearing one.  My favorite is, undoubtedly, in a very serious font:  Excuse me, you’re standing on my penis.

Johnny: Although we’re slowly making our way back to normalcy, COVID-19 has made an indelible impact on all of us. How has coronavirus impacted your life and work, and how do you hope people will have changed once the saga draws to a close?

Bruce: It’s been a year without pants.  I’m a writer, so I got to sit at the keyboard and pound it out.  Wait, that came out wrong.  I got to write and Zoom, and if I didn’t forget myself and stand up and do a Jeffrey Toobin, I was alright.  Live performing disappeared, so I did a lot of podcasts to exercise that muscle.  I also wrote a musical about a guy in quarantine,  but I can’t talk about it yet.

As for how people have changed once the saga draws to a close…I’m hoping for a comeback for French kissing.  Listen, so much happened between BLM and #metoo and the fall of Orange Julius Caesar. Let’s just hope we have a recognizable planet to inhabit as kinder, gentler people. except for Jake Paul and Lea DeLaria, who should have a YouTube fight that he will never win.

The post Looking Back With Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

The red carpet is ready, the paparazzi are prepping their lenses, the stunning dresses are being chosen, and the golden awards are ready to be handed out to the lucky winners. Yes, it’s time again for the Toscars ceremony. No, that’s not a misprint. The Oscars are being held in March, but a few days before that on February 28th, Brits in LA’s 11th annual Toscars will be held in Hollywood at the Renberg Theatre.

This affectionate, spoofy homage is based around this year’s Oscar nominations for best movie. After the Oscar nominations are announced, in three weeks, parodies are made, judged by the Whacademy and then shown at the awards ceremony.

It has been said of this annual event that it is “like the Oscars, only funnier.”

Past presenters and hosts have included Skeet Ulrich (Riverdale), Academy and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts, Alex Newell (Glee), Candis Cayne (Dirty Sexy Money), Craig Young (The Last Ship), Jai Rodriquez (Queer Eye), Brianna Brown (Dynasty), Asian Oscar winner Bai Ling, Sean Maguire (Once Upon a Time), DJ Paul Oakenfold, Academy Award Winners, Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Dynasty), Ruth Connell (Supernatural), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), Rex Lee (Young and Hungry), Janina Gavankar (Sleepy Hollow), Emmy Winner Bruce Vilanch, Brit Award Winner Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama), Bradley Walsh (Law & Order: UK) and the BAFTA winning comedian Jim Tavaré.

Who will take home the coveted ‘Golden Fist’ for Best Whactress, Best Whactor, Best Scribbler, Best Tunes and more? All will be revealed on February 28th.

Date: February 28th, 2018
What: The Toscars
Where: Renberg Theatre, Hollywood

The post The Toscars 2018 Date Has Been Set! And What Are The Toscars? first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

In Association with rj productions

Emmy Award-winner, celebrated comedy genius and Fire Island favorite, Bruce Vilanch, comes to Whyte Hall in August with musical comedy sensations The Skivvies. From writing The Oscars for over 25 years to The Hollywood Squares, Bruce has many stories to tell.

The Skivvies, the “musically thrilling” undie-rock, comedy-pop duo don’t just strip down their musical arrangements, they literally strip down to their underwear to perform their distinctive mashups and eccentric originals for cello and ukulele starring Award-winning singer-actors Lauren Molina (Broadway’s Sweeney Todd & Rock of Ages) and Nick Cearley (All Shook Up, Buyer and Cellar) The Wall Street Journal called them “smart, sophisticated…ingenious.”

Tickets $100 & $75

TICKETS AVAILABLE IN THE HARBOR AND AT THE BOX OFFICE

The post Bruce Vilanch & The Skivvies To Play At Fire Island Arts Project SATURDAY, August 13, 2016 8PM first appeared on We Got Bruce!.