There’s a certain feeling that invades my consciousness when I attend a Dancer’s Event…

It is a deep, passionate, all-encompassing love amongst it’s members. And that is what I was feeling, attending a most prestigious (in my opinion) Event; The Professional Dancer’s Society 2018 Annual Luncheon & “Gypsy” Award Ceremony, held in the International Room at the Beverly Hilton.

It starts with the Dancers, Choreographers, Dance Divas from all mediums showing up in a corner of the lobby; all of whom have pre-paid to attend, with all money raised being given to The Actor’s Fund and Dancers in need; in a bevy of energy and mutual admiration of others gathering.

The ambience cannot be described. Put some wild-and-crazy dancers together, covering decades of working together and weathering brutal rehearsals, live performances, injuries, touring, and surviving in a very competitive business and you end up having a love-in. We are a unique family of misfits and artistic, diverse and creative souls.

Our President, Mitzi Gaynor, BWW Feature: PDS’s Star-Studded Luncheon and Gypsy Award Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroomwas side-crackingly funny, and had a lot of choice comments that would be best not quoted here, but had the crowd in an uproar. Joni Berry, the glue that holds all of this together, introduced one of the best honoree lists in PDS history. Honored this year were George Chakiris, Barrie Chase and Toni Basil. What a marquee that would be!

Past honorees, beginning in 1987, have been Hermes Pan, Donald O’Connor, Sammy Davis, Jr., Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney, Shirley MacLaine, Mitzi Gaynor, Juliet Prowse, Gwen Verdon, Ann-Margaret, Sandy Duncan, Tommy Tune, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Onna White, Sandy Duncan, Chita Rivera, Marge Champion, Gregory Hines, Rita Moreno, Florence Henderson, Jane Powell, Rob Marshall, Carol Lawrence, Ben Vereen, Bob Mackie, Leslie Caron, Carl Reiner, Mary Tyler Moore, and Carol Channing, among others.

The show, produced by incredible, noted Dancers/Choreographers, Lee Hale, Charlene Painter, Ted Sprague, Joe Tremaine, Anita Mann Kohl and Tommy Peel, is a tribute to who, what and why Dancers have been influential as a part of the Entertainment Industry.

BWW Feature: PDS’s Star-Studded Luncheon and Gypsy Award Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel International BallroomDick Van Dyke started off the festivities, which has become a yearly tradition. He was honored in 1999 by the PDS, and is always exhuberant and gracious. Joe Tremaine also lent his comments to the purpose of the event. HONOREES this year were Barrie Chase, who was Fred Astaire’s “Personally Chosen Dance Partner” in numerous films, introduced by Julie McDonald. Her film clips, edited by the incomparable Lee Hale, were varied and unique. She marked a time-period of dance that contributed to advancing dance as a narrative to moving the plot of a film forward.

Bruce Vilanch, who had us all in stitches, introduced Toni Basil, honored next, for bringing “street dancing” into the mainstream, with her mixture of hip-hop and ballet, was delightfully entertaining in recalling her early history and background as a member of a family that included a family vaudeville act and father who was a band leader in Las Vegas.< There is a tradition exclusively among dancers, all over the globe, to present a "Gypsy Robe" to one Dancer each year at such events. It exemplifies unique, llfe-long dedication to giving your soul and spirit to the Art of Dance. It is a revered accolade in the Dance World, as the highest honor to be the recipient of. Joanne Divito was the deserved recipient this year. Her life has been dedicated to dance, in many forms, as a teacher, choreographer, dancer on Broadway and head of Career Transition for Dancers, a revolutionary organization to help dancers find direction into a career after Dance. As a side note, Equity (A.E.A.) has proposed doing away with the name "Gypsy" as being un-PC; an unpopular idea amongst the Dancers who are the multitude of members of that Union. There has never been any intent to slur a minority culture; to Us, it is a term of endearment. Sandy Roveta, last year's Gypsy Robe recipient, was poignantly moving. When a dancer can pour her heart out to her peers, it is definitely from the heart. The poem she penned and read aloud, had everyone laughing and crying at the same time, as we all could relate! Here it is: BWW Feature: PDS's Star-Studded Luncheon and Gypsy Award Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel International BallroomBWW Feature: PDS's Star-Studded Luncheon and Gypsy Award Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel International BallroomThe absolute highlight of the afternoon was the Presentation of the PDS AWARD to Academy Award Winner George Chakiris for his Extraordinary Contribution To The Dance. Russ Tamblyn, (West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers...) presented George Chakiris with the Award. BWW Feature: PDS's Star-Studded Luncheon and Gypsy Award Ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroom Seated at George's Table were Dance Royalty: The partial Cast from the Original WEST SIDE STORY! In addition to George Chakiris (Bernardo) & Russ Tamblyn, (Riff), in attendance were Jaime Rogers, (Loco) Maria Jimenez Henley (Teresita), Bob Banas, (Joy-Boy) Gina Trikonis (Graziella) and David Winters (A-Rab);Tony Mordente (Action) was unable to attend, but duly mentioned. In between were performances by local Dance Companies, and introductions of the many Celebrity/Dancers in the audience. On each side of the room were giant screens, where so many amazing dance clips were woven together and produced by Lee Hale that are priceless montages of Dance through History, and were all met with exuberant applause and appreciation. If you love to dance, love watching dance, or just enjoy dancers and their lively events, come to this spring event next year and contribute to the betterment of artistic endeavors. It's a hell-of-a show!

The post Bruce Vilanch Honors Toni Basil At PDS’s Gypsy Award Ceremony first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch will be playing two nights, January 11 & 12, at Feinsteinâ€s at the Regency in his new one-man show “Writer on the Verge”. We thought weâ€d call him up to see what the showâ€s all about. Even as he picked up the phone, he was already chuckling and cracking wise: “Is this the Gay Socialite? Any questions? Fire away!”

So, is “Writer on the Verge” all-new?

It is! Itâ€s been a a long time since Iâ€ve done anything in New York. When Iâ€m in the city I tend to do benefits galore and emcee things. So Iâ€m pretty sure all my material will be new to the city. I havenâ€t done a real show in New York for 10 years unless Iâ€m forgetting something. I was at Westbeth for three months but that was almost 11 years ago. There have been many more Oscar broadcasts since then and many more things to tell stories about.

Youâ€re going to be play Feinsteinâ€s; will there be any singing?

I donâ€t think so; if I get the piano player of my dreams, I will sing, Iâ€ve got some material. But to be there and to sing, to stand there in the shadow of so many incredible singers, just because itâ€s a cabaret…I donâ€t think when Jackie Mason played there he broke into song.

No, nor Joan Collins, and her show was terrific.

[Laughs.] She didnâ€t? I thought that was the whole idea. So she just told stories, right? Thatâ€s interesting too, and of course my life is so much more glamorous than hers. [Laughs.]

Yeah, Mitzi Gaynor sang a couple songs, but her show was also mostly stories.

In the ballroom, right? Thatâ€s the big time. Iâ€m in the cabaret, where Iâ€ve been a regular, which I actually love. I worked with Mitzi recently, when she was coming out of her shell — if you can ever believe she was in one. We did an on-stage Q&A in San Francisco, and of course what I learned is you ask Mitzi one question and she goes into material from her act, of which there is no shortage. Itâ€s hysterical and wonderful. I think getting back out there and doing that stuff encouraged her to do a regular evening.

What do you think of the state of gayâ€s in todayâ€s comedy?

I think we rule! Itâ€s ironic on TV certainly the big hit is Modern Family and because of Modern Family there are half a dozen shows in the hopper for next year about “blended” families of different kinds and they all have a gay element in them. So success breeds a lot — this is the logical extension of Will & Grace and Ellen DeGeneres. In television thereâ€s quite a lot of it. In general I think weâ€re going through a transitional period. Now that weâ€re visible, weâ€re showing different textures, a character isnâ€t just a gay character. Heâ€s not in the script because heâ€s gay, writers are now being given freedom to discover layers in gay characters.

And you are acting in a new gay themed film comedy Oy Vey My Son is Gay.

Which is opening Friday in Miami. Miami Beach at last! Iâ€m in Tampa right now and Iâ€m going to go down there for the “gala” opening, “gala” thatâ€s hysterical. Itâ€s been released “on a platform,” opening in different markets one after the other. Itâ€s been opening around the country on different dates. Thatâ€s a fun thing because you get reviewed at least once a week by some new person in another newspaper. Itâ€s like the death of a thousand cuts. [Laughs.] But itâ€s a very funny movie, an old school comedy, about the older generation getting hit by a trifecta: their sons are gay, getting married and adopting a baby. What makes it so funny is the older Jewish parents are played by Lainie Kazan and Saul Rubinek, with Carmen Electra as “the beard next door,” and the cast just goes on like that.

For tickets, click here.

For more reviews and interviews by Jonathan Warman, see his blog Drama Queen.

The post “Gay Socialites” Interview Bruce Vilanch first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

The national tour of South Pacific celebrated its opening night at the Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, June 2. Bartlett Sher has directed the production.

In attendance were several alumni from various stage and screen incarnations of South Pacific, including Mitzi Gaynor (Nellie), John Kerr (Cable), and France Nuyen (Liat) from the film version; Shirley Jones and BarBara Luna from the original Broadway run of the musical; and Glee star Matthew Morrison, who played Lt. Cable on Broadway as part of the original revival cast of the musical.

Additional guests at the opening night performance included Jennifer Carpenter, Adrian Grenier, Michael C. Hall, Jane Kaczmarek, Eric Idle and wife Tania Kosevich Idle, Jodi Long, Jeff Lynne, Alec Mapa, Lara Pulver, Bruce Vilanch, and Charlayne Woodard.

The current touring cast includes Rod Gilfry (Emile de Becque), Carmen Cusack (Nellie Forbush), Anderson Davis (Lt. Cable), Matthew Saldivar (Luther Billis), Keala Settle (Bloody Mary), Gerry Becker (Capt. Brackett), Peter Rini (Cmdr. Harbison), Sumie Maeda (Liat), Rusty Ross (Professor), Genson Blimline (Stewpot), Christina Carrera (Ngana), and CJ Palma (Jerome).

For more information, visit www.centertheatregroup.org.

The post Bruce On “South Pacific” first appeared on We Got Bruce!.