Bruce Vilanch and Joey Fatone have joined the cast of the “Celebrity Autobiography” to benefit Actors and Others for Animals on Monday, Oct 13th at the El Portal Theatre.

They will appear alongside previously announced performers Florence Henderson, Lainie Kazan, Laraine Newman, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Mindy Cohn, Fred Willard, and special guests, Lily Tomlin, Dawn Wells, Susan Olsen and A&O President, JoAnne Worley and more.

Actors and Others for Animals (A&O), welcomes you to “Celebrity Autobiography.” Created by Emmy-nominated writer-performer Eugene Pack and developed by Pack and Dayle Reyfel, “Celebrity Autobiography” is the smash comedy hit where celeb performers act out other celebrity memoirs excerpts live on stage. This evening of non-stop laughter will be performed live on-stage. Selections range from the “poetry” of Suzanne Somers to the confessions of Justin Bieber to the most famous Hollywood love triangle in history – Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher–and it’s all in their own words.

It all takes place on Monday, October 13th, 2014. Schedule: 7:00pm – VIP Reception and Silent Auction; 8:00pm – Curtain. At the El Portal Theatre, located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Tickets: $50, $75 $100 and VIP for $150 (includes VIP Reception). Available by calling 818-508-4200 or visiting www.elportaltheatre.com. For more information about the event, visit: www.actorsandothers.com or the show at www.celebrityautobiography.com.

The long running hit won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and continues to play to sold-out audiences in New York and across the country. It is one of the most critically acclaimed “buzzed about shows” of recent years according to Entertainment Weekly, and one not to be missed. You will leave the theater wondering if they really did write those things. As A&O’s board member Lily Tomlin’s famous character Edith Ann likes to say “and that’s the truth!”

Actors and Others for Animals is a California 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to eliminating pet overpopulation, ensuring the care and protection of pet companions and improving the quality of life economically challenged, disadvantaged and undeserved pet guardians by providing referral and financial assistance for spay/neuter and veterinary medical procedures together with other animal/human bond enriching programs.

The post Bruce Vilanch and Joey Fatone Join CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY to Benefit Actors & Others for Animals, 10/13 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Tampa Bay Online
‘Celebrity Biography’ takes page from stars
wbelcher@tampatrib.com
Published: January 4, 2011

Celebrities write the darnest things — especially in their autobiographies.

Take Vanna White‘s detailed description of her letter turning skills on “Wheel of Fortune.”

In her 1989 memoir, she painstakingly recounts what we’ve all seen: how she gets excited when she hears Pat Sajak announce, “Oh, Vanna,” how she shows off her gowns; how she “must concentrate on every word a contestant says” so she can spring into action to turn the letters; and how she has to “rush like crazy” when the puzzle is a long phrase.

“Sure, it’s not the most intellectually challenging job in the world but it is hard work. … What’s my secret? As I told ’60 Minutes,’ it must be in the wrist,” she wrote.

That book, published at the height of her fame, was the inspiration for “Celebrity Autobiography,” a night of laughs based on insipid passages from memoirs.

Producer, actor, and playwright Eugene Pack created the long-running off-Broadway show more than 10 years ago after reading “Vanna Speaks” and realizing the comic potential in dramatic readings of celebrity drivel.

“We started performing these at a little restaurant in Hollywood on Monday nights and it grew from there,” says writer/actor Bruce Vilanch, who is part of the ensemble performing “Celebrity Autobiography” tonight through Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater (call 727-791-7400 or visit www.rutheckerdhall.com for information).

Vilanch will be joined by various performers during the run, including Vincent Pastore (of “The Sopranos”) and Dawn Wells (on Saturday) of “Gilligan’s Island.” The show’s creator Eugene Pack also will perform.

The cast of six changes with just about every performance, Vilanch said in a telephone interview. “So does the material because new celebrity memoirs are published every year,” he adds, noting that the words of Tiger Woods, Miley Cyrus and Sarah Palin are in the act.

Vilanch, one of Hollywood’s most prolific gag writers, says that what makes it work are trivial passages from celebrities with an inflated sense of self-importance.

“These famous people have been given large sums of money to write so they think that what they have to say is important and they think people care about every little thing that they do,” he says.

Audiences will be treated to Suzanne Somers’ poetry; how Joan Lunden picks the clothes she wears; and romance advice from Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee.

The post Celebrities say the darnest things first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Mario Cantone will join the previously announced Rachel Dratch, Cheyenne Jackson, Kristen Johnston, John Cameron Mitchell, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Bruce Vilanch, and B.D. Wong in a special Gay Pride edition of the Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words, to be offered at The Gramercy Theatre on June 26, at 7:30pm.

Created by Eugene Pack, the show features a line-up of rotating performers who interpret the actual words and stories written by the famous and the infamous, in both solo and ensemble “chamber” pieces culled from the autobiographies of celebrities. The words of gay icons including Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Madonna, Ivana Trump, Vanna White, Star Jones,’N Sync, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Loni Anderson, Diana Ross, Kathie Lee Gifford, Miley Cyrus and Debbie Reynolds have all been performed in previous editions of the show.

For further information, visit: www.celebrityautobiography.com.

The post Mario Cantone to Join Bruce Vilanch, Cheyenne Jackson, John Cameron Mitchell, B.D. Wong, et al. for Gay Pride Edition of Celebrity Autobiography first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Rachel Dratch, Cheyenne Jackson, Kristen Johnston, John Cameron Mitchell, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Bruce Vilanch, and B.D. Wong will perform in a special Gay Pride edition of the Drama Desk Award-winning Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words, to be offered at The Gramercy Theatre on June 26, at 7:30pm.

Created by Eugene Pack, the show features a line-up of rotating performers who interpret the actual words and stories written by the famous and the infamous, in both solo and ensemble “chamber” pieces culled from the autobiographies of celebrities. The words of gay icons including Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Madonna, Ivana Trump, Vanna White, Star Jones,’N Sync, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Loni Anderson, Diana Ross, Kathie Lee Gifford, Miley Cyrus and Debbie Reynolds have all been performed in previous editions of the show.

For further information, visit: www.celebrityautobiography.com

The post Bruce Vilanch To Perform Gay Pride Edition Of ‘Celebrity Autobiography’ first appeared on We Got Bruce!.