The “Celebrity Autobiography” performance to benefit Actors and Others for Animals was held on Monday, Oct 13th at the El Portal Theatre. The evening featured Joey Fatone, Florence Henderson, Lainie Kazan, Laraine Newman,Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel, Mindy Cohn, Bruce Vilanch and Fred Willard, with special guests, Lily Tomlin, Dawn Wells, Susan Olsen and A&O President JoAnne Worley and more. Scroll down for photos!

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 ofJustin 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.

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.

For more information about the event, go to www.actorsandothers.com or find out more about the show atwww.celebrityautobiography.com.

Photos: Tibrina Hobson

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Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia will star in the upcoming comedy/horror film, Hotel Arthritis, to be directed by Jason Lockhart.

The film is about a group of retirement home residents living in fear of a masked killer who stalks the halls of their home. Tartaglia will play the role of Dale, described as a “the quirky, offbeat, a-sexual manager” of the home.

Also featured in the film are Broadway veterans Camille Saviola and Bruce Vilanch, as well as Dawn Wells, Lee Meriwether, Martin Kove, David Proval, Kiersten Warren, Jacqui Holland, Shawn Harrison, Jerry Douglas, and Rip Taylor.

For more information, visit www.hotelarthritis.com.

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• Bruce Vilanch Stars In “Hotel Arthritis” (wegotbruce.com)
• Bruce Vilanch: Going To “The Mansion” In The…Oh Well, Saratoga Springs July 18-19, 2012 (wegotbruce.com)
• Bruce Vilanch Joins Cast Of “At Home Abroad” Monday, October 15 at Peter Norton Symphony Space (wegotbruce.com)

The post Trailer: Bruce Vilanch, Dawn Wells, Rip Taylor, And Lee Meriweather Check Into “Hotel Arthritis” first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Horror Meets A Retirement Home in Hotel Arthritis

By Doctor Gash

May 21st, 2012

Not since Bubba Ho-Tep has horror graced the halls of a retirement community…unless you count that one episode in the first season of “The Walking Dead.” But filmmaker Jason Lockhart is about to bring us another old folks home nightmare with Hotel Arthritis.

Directed by Lockhart, who also wrote the film with Jacqui Holland, Hotel Arthrits is a horror-comedy that stars Dawn Wells (MaryAnn on “Gilligan’s Island“) and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q). Also featured are Lee Meriwether of Catwoman fame, Camille Saviola, Jacqui Holland, Kiersten Warren, Rip Taylor and Bruce Vilanch.4

For more visit the official Hotel Arthritis website, “like” Hotel Arthritis on Facebook and followHotel Arthritis on Twitter (@HotelArthritis).

Synopsis
Senior citizens are being offed by a masked killer who stalks the halls of the small retirement community in which they live. The story opens with a terrifying murder, creating space on the waiting list for Rose to move in. Upon Rose’s arrival, she is taken on a tour of the grounds by the quirky, offbeat manager of the joint: Dale. The odd and brightly colored characters continue to pop up as Fanny, her Jewish gossiping neighbor, introduces Rose to “The Gang.” The routine of daily life is all stirred up at the moment. People are disappearing, there’s talk of a ghost, and to top things off, there’s an STD outbreak. As terror rises throughout the building, the fear of who’s next and who the killer may be, continues to grow. We find ourselves in a game of “Who-done-it?” Is it Desperella, the ground’s custodial manager? Is it Kitty, the sexy activities director? Or Zeke, her punk rock boyfriend? Maybe it’s one of the elder folks suffering from dementia or seeking some sort of revenge. Full of laughs and full of scares, you’ll be on the edge of your seats from the moment you enter the world of the Lake View Retirement Home: The place where people come to live… until they die!

The post Bruce Vilanch Stars In “Hotel Arthritis” 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.

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