Dannylize This
Bruce Vilanch Talks About His Creative Process
By Staff
January 15, 2024

Today I sat down to speak with a legend in entertainment, comedy, TV, and so much more. Bruce is most well known for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in the play Hair spray, a contestant on Hollywood squares. During todays episode Bruce and I talk about the creative process, the difference between Stand up and Stage acting when it pertains to comedy. I truly enjoyed speaking to this legend. His wisdom and insight on culture is amazing enjoy the episode.

The post On Dannylize This, Bruce Vilanch Talks About His Creative Process first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Order your 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 wrote the book for. The show will play The Delaware Theatre Company this winter prior to its arrival on Broadway. Mr. Vilanch’s stand-up routines draw on his years of being a Hollywood insider. Lots of secrets will be revealed!

The post See Bruce Vilanch At The Cock & Bull Restaurant & Stage at Peddler’s Village Lahaska, PA first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Kritzerland at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal presents its fourth anniversary show — THE SONGS THAT GOT AWAY III — on Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 7 p.m.

Evan Buckley Harris (Li’L Abner, (Abner) LACC; Memphis (Huey); Grease 40th Anniversary (Kenickie); South Pacific (Lt. Cable).

Kimberly Hessler (La Mirada/McCoy-Rigby, Les Miserables (Cosette); El Portal Spelling Bee (Olive); Most Happy Fella (Rosabella).

Travis Leland (Norman Rockwell’s America, Freedom Machine, Justin Love, The Giver, Fly By Night, Adding Machine: A Musical.)

Bruce Merkle (McCoy-Rigby, Les Miserables; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Rules of Engagement, How I Met Your Mother.)

Hadley Miller (National: Cathy Rigby Is Peter Pan; Tiny Tim; A Christmas Carol, South Coast Rep,www.hadleybellemiller.com)

Madison Claire Parks (Oklahoma! (Laurey), Musical Theatre West; Phantom of the Opera (Christine); Lil Abner (Daisy Mae).

Jenna Lea Rosen (Disney’s Sofia the First (Shelly, Singing Voice of Clio & Hildegard), Parade 3DT (Monteen, Ovation Award.)

Sami Staitman (Annie, Annie, Pioneer, Utah;Young Cosette,Les Mise?rables;Singing in the Rain, Cabrillo; L’il Abner. TV: House of Lies)

Adrienne Visnic (BFA Acting USC, The Most Happy Fella (Cleo), USC Outstanding Actress, LA’s Next Great Stage Star Finalist)

Robert Yacko (Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof; Company with Carol Burnett; Sunday in the Park; Ovation Award, Parade)

Kerry O’Malley (Broadway/Off-Broadway: White Christmas; On A Clear Day; Billy Elliot; Into The Woods; Annie Get Your Gun; Promises, Promises (Encores!); Finian’s Rainbow; How I Learned to Drive; Dublin Carol. TV and film: Upcoming: Terminator: Genesis; Case 39; Earth to Echo; Those Who Kill; Masters of Sex; Shameless; Brotherhood; Boardwalk Empire.)

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: John Boswell

For our 49th Kritzerland show, we celebrate our four-year anniversary of doing monthly shows. We began in September 2010 at the Gardenia. We moved to Michael Sterling‘s room at Vitello’s for only three months, before finding our new home here at Kritzerland at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal. As with our past three anniversary shows, this one is a potpourri – no theme other than the songs have been recorded by producer Bruce Kimmel on various albums that we haven’t gotten to yet or songs we weren’t able to include because of time. But it’s also the ten-year anniversary of Bruce Kimmel‘s hit musical revue, What If, so we’re celebrating that, too, by doing a few of its parody numbers. We’ve assembled an amazing cast, and have two great guest stars – Kerry O’Malley and the wonderful Bruce Vilanch. It will be an evening of wonderful songs, lots of humor and fantastic performances. As with our past anniversary shows, as our gift to our loyal and incredible audiences, this show will have no cover charge. These anniversary shows sell out in about ten minutes so don’t delay because when they’re sold out they’re sold out, although we will be taking a waiting list and usually we have no-shows and the waiting list usually does get in.

This show is likely to be jam-packed. We recommend early reservations. Don’t wait until the last minute!

The only way to reserve: 818-754-8700. Your phone reservation will be confirmed (usually a few days before the show). Dinner reservations: DOORS OPEN 5:30pm. SHOW STARTS 7:00pm! Reservations have already started coming in, and are highly recommended. FOR THIS SHOW ONLY: NO COVER CHARGE! $10 food minimum + $4 facility charge. Yes! You can eat dinner and see the show for only about $15!

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 about Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal, visit: http://www.msapr.net/Sterling-s-at-The-Federal.html.

The post Kritzerland to Celebrate 4th Anniversary with Special Guests Kerry O’Malley and Bruce Vilanch, 9/7 first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th.

If you are looking for a good night of laughs, I would assume this is as close to a sure thing as one can get.

Vilanch is wickedly funny, and I assume when in a room of mostly gay men his stories will make for an evening you won’t soon forget.

If you haven’t made plans already you may want to consider checking out this show.  Get your tickets ahead of time since the show is likely to sell out.  Get your tickets online from Club Cafe’s website here.

The post Bruce Vilanch appears at Club Cafe this Saturday, August 16th. first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

We got Bruce!

Vilanch, that is. One of the most celebrated joke writers in the business has descended on San Francisco to mine local news nuggets, gobs of gossip and salacious stories to share on the Marines Memorial Theater stage at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 13, for the Big Gay Comedy Show, a benefit for Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation.

“It will be a lot of comedy with a couple of cabaret performers thrown in, but they’re funny: Shawn Ryan and Jason Brock. San Francisco is such a uniquely comic town. You get really political comics like Marga Gomez, and then you get really artistic people,” Vilanch said.

Big Gay Comedy Show will also feature B.O.O.B.s, Leanne Borghesi, Shann Carr, Cassandra Cass, Ali Mafi, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy and Kitty Tapata.

The red bespectacled, wacky T-shirt adorned Vilanch is currently “casing the joint” to gather up-to-the-minute material for his portion of the show.

“I have a week to get to know all of that, which is more than usual. I will probably tell stories. That’s what I do,” he said.

After more than four decades in the business—writing for every conceivable awards show including a bunch of Oscars—Vilanch has more celeb, behind-the-scenes tales than Kathy Griffin. His “almost famous” life is chronicled in the documentary “Get Bruce,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

But while he’s made a sweet living writing funny lines for other performers to say on stage,

ilanch’s passion is performing. He’s probably best known for his years on “Hollywood Squares” and for performing in drag as Edna Turnblad in the Broadway and touring productions of “Hairspray.”

“I’ve been looking for the kind of stuff to do that Nathan Lane always gets to do because he’s the master of it right now,” Vilanch said. “The singing and dancing fat guys is what I would love to do. More acting. Playing a woman is one thing, but to get them to accept me as a straight man will be even more interesting.”

Vilanch is getting his chance with 42nd Street Moon’s revival of the Cole Porter musical, “Du Barry Was a Lady,” in which he plays a swanky nightclub men’s room attendant who wins the lottery, gets slipped a Mickey Finn and thinks he’s King Louis XV. Burt Lahr originated the role in 1939.

“Since I’ve been compared to the Cowardly Lion in looks alone, I thought it was time I brought one of Burt Lahr’s other roles out of the closet and see what I could do with it,” Vilanch said. “He was so brilliantly funny. I was a huge fan of his.”

The musical runs at the Eureka Theater April 30 to May 18.

“It’s lyrically wonderful. The stuff that I get to sing is all comic patter. The most famous is ‘Friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship!” That was written for him and Ethel Merman. People think it was written for Lucy and Ethel, because ‘I Love Lucy’ did it a couple of times,” Vilanch said.

 With Disney now in control of the future of “Star Wars,” one of Vilanch’s old projects might see the light of day. He was a writer on the much-maligned “Star Wars Holiday Special” that aired one time only in November 1978.

“Oh, my God, I have the script. I save the script to everything. Occasionally, I will go back and look at that thing and say, ‘Oh, my God, we actually did this. We really did this.’ I think there was a prop I took. I think I got a mug from the cantina on the planet Tatooine, where the aliens and Bea Arthur had a big number,” Vilanch said.

Tickets for Big Gay Comedy Show are available by calling (415) 273-1620 or online atbiggaycomedyshow.eventbrite.com. For more information on “Du Barry Was a Lady,” visit42ndstmoon.org.

Corey Andrew has been interviewing comedians and writing about comedy for the last decade and a half. He recently published the book, “Laugh Lines: Conversations with Comedians.” Corey was a writer and performer with Midwest sketch troupe, The NonProphets, before moving to the Bay Area with his family several years ago. If you have ideas for future columns about comedy, you can send them to coreywrites@yahoo.com or follow him at twitter.com/coreyshame.

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• Vilanch & Musto: Crystal or Jackman?
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The post Bruce Vilanch’s Big Gay Comedy Show Lands in San Francisco first appeared on We Got Bruce!.