Long-Legged Lovelies

Stephanie Eley

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:25:29 -0700

"The good ol' summertime to me means going to the beach, barbecues, lazy hot days, late afternoon thundershowers, early sunrises and late sunsets."

Joining the Follies this season is a petite lady with a show business resume that's anything but!

Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, her profession was pre-ordained as either teacher or secretary. Unfortunately, she couldn't sit still, and the dance studio soon became her home. At age 16, she received a dance scholarship to Loyola and spent the summer studying in Chicago.

After graduation from the North Carolina School of the Arts, she headed to Las Vegas where she performed in the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana Hotel and opened for such stars as Frank Sinatra, Jr., Flip Wilson and Rich Little at the Sahara.

Next, she toured the U.S., South America and Great Britain, and appeared in such television specials as the Emmy Award-winning Baryshnikov on Broadway.

Broadway itself soon beckoned, and she was chosen for the original cast of Dreamgirls and My One And Only, including understudying Twiggy in the lead role for the latter. She also appeared in the Broadway production of A Chorus Line.

For the past 10 years, she's been executive director for PACT (Partnering Artists Children Teachers), a cultural and arts education organization with the New York City Department of Education.

Now, at age 60, this gypsy is happy to be "back on the boards!"

MORE FUN FACTS

From 2009–2010, she taught English in Banos, Ecuador, integrating all art disciplines--theater, dance, music and visual arts--into the core curriculum.
She's trained and/or worked with such dance legends as Michael Kidd, Michael Bennett, Ron Lewis, Jerry Jackson, Martha Graham and Tommy Tune.
She appeared in the original Jane Fonda Workout video.
Managing three children and a career was the most challenging experience of her life; surviving three divorces was the most difficult.
Her heroes are the 9/11 first responders.
Favorite Spanish Proverb: "La falta de todos consuelo de bobos" ("The lack of all is the consolation of fools.").

Greta Albritton

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 09:51:37 -0700

"Playing 'kick the can' with the neighborhood kids and pushing a stroller with my cat Tommy in it, dressed in doll clothes, up and down the street are fond summer memories."

Greta Albritton began dancing at four years of age in her hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. While in junior high, she had already decided upon her intended profession (dance), so spent her summers in New York studying at The National Academy of Ballet. She also studied dance pantomime at Carnegie Hall with the renowned Eugene Hari.

She attended college at The Boston Conservatory of Music and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance.

After graduation, the bright lights beckoned and she traveled the Nevada circuit from 1971 through 1989, appearing in shows in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe. She worked for such legendary producers as Don Arden, Ron Lewis and Harold Minsky, and in 1975, traveled to the Philippines with the Folies Bergere.

She's been a runway model, acted in TV commercials, and even earned her real estate license, selling houses "by day" and dancing "by night."

In 1988, she married fellow Las Vegas dancer Wayne Albritton, and in 2000, they headed west to Palm Springs, when he was cast in The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies. Now, at age 63, she returns for her second season at the Follies. About working together with her husband on the Plaza Theatre stage, Greta says, "Does life get any better?"

MORE FUN FACTS

Her favorites activities when not working are traveling to Maui, sailing, and visiting Southern California beaches with husband Wayne and their beloved dogs.
Are You As Happy As Your Dog? by Alan Cohen is Greta's favorite book.
The most challenging experience of her career was learning Ron Lewis's choreography.
Favorite TV shows are Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.
During a single day while she was performing in the lounge of the Flamingo Las Vegas, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Fats Domino, and Kenny Rogers and The First Edition all appeared on the same bill. What a lineup!

Jane Owens

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:42:46 -0700

"Ladies with lace parasols, men in straw boater hats, lemonade in the park, ice cream socials . . . all those things before my time--that's the 'good ol' summertime' to me."

When you think about America's entertainment capitals, New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas immediately come to mind. But there is actually a fourth and that is where Jane Owens spent much of her career.

After starting out in New York and doing two tours of No, No, Nanette across the U.S. and Canada and several musical productions at New Jersey's Club Bene, Jane headed for warmer climes, then settled in Florida. She performed in nearly all of the Gold Coast's top musical venues, and created her own seven-person review, Fabulous Fosse, which toured all of south Florida.

Some of her fondest show business memories are from her two USO Tours--one to the Far East and one to Germany.

A career highlight was touring with her sisters in a three-girl act entitled "The Taylor Maids," under the direction of noted choreographer June Taylor.

In her second season with the Follies, Jane, 63, is thrilled to be working again with her sister, Follies Dance Captain Jill Owens.

MORE FUN FACTS

Her first USO tour was the most memorable experience of her life. Coming through the clouds to the sight of Mt. Fuji made her wonder, "Are we landing on another planet?" The tour was very rewarding, not only because the troops were so appreciative, but she also met her future husband, comedian Danny Wald, who appeared on the same bill.
The most challenging experience of her life was finding joy after her husband's passing four years ago.
"I think when we're given hardship and adversity, it's to help us grow and learn a life lesson. It's often difficult to believe this at the time, but when you reflect upon the situation, you can see why it was part of your life. It's best to think of 'problems' as really 'opportunities for solutions'."
Her favorite books are dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Joni Naber

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:03:44 -0800

"My husband and I enjoy taking fishing trips to Idaho where we stay in a cottage on Twin Lakes. But I definitely do not touch any live bait!"

Joni Naber, 75 years young, joined the Follies six years ago after owning and operating a dance studio in her native Washington, D.C., for 47 years. But that was after an illustrious performing career that began with appearances on television in the nation's capital when she was in her teens.

She also shared the live stage as a dancer and singer with such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Gordon MacRae, Eddie Fisher and Bobby Darin.

Joni toured the U.S. with the Roxyettes, a rival troupe to the Rockettes, and traveled the world with the USO as a precision line dancer. After veering to work as a singer and model, she founded an overnight camp where girls could train with master dance teachers before launching her long-running studio.

She and her husband Michael, a former Naval officer, also raised a family that produced four children and five grandchildren.

MORE FUN FACTS

Joni's stint with the USO for five years encompassed travels to Greenland, Iceland and the Azores, and she relished "the applause of our service men and women."
Being on the road with the USO was always rewarding, but often frightening. She says, "The situations we female dancers found ourselves in were experiences we never wrote home to Mom and Dad about. Needless to say, we learned how to defend ourselves--ferociously!"
Joni's husband Michael E. Naber attained the rank of Commander in his Navy career and was a combat jet pilot during service in Vietnam. Currently he is a volunteer mission pilot for the Civil Air Patrol in Palm Springs, as well as a volunteer member of the Palm Springs Police Aero Squadron.
Joni connected with the Follies when her in-laws, from San Diego, gave her and her husband tickets for a Christmas show, and she enjoyed it so much she flew back cross-country by herself, unannounced, for a successful audition.

Suzanne Vitale

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:02:42 -0800

"During the summer I love laying out in the sun and going every week to see a different Broadway show at Muny Opera (St. Louis, Mo.), the largest outdoor theater in the U.S."

Suzanne Vitale, 73, is returning to the Plaza Theatre stage for her fourth Follies season. Previously, she toured with national companies of Li'l Abner and My Fair Lady, eventually traveling with the latter to Canada and Russia. She appeared at the famed Paper Mill Playhouse--just across the river from Broadway--in productions of Oklahoma! and Silk Stockings. In Miami Beach, she danced at Lou Walters' nightclub, Café de Paris (a sister club to his famed Latin Quarter in New York).

Suzanne also appeared in more than 20 musicals and operettas at major stock theaters in the Midwest, including appearances at the Cleveland Musicarnival and the Muny Opera of St. Louis in shows such as South Pacific, Show Boat, Most Happy Fella, Bells Are Ringing and Naughty Marietta.

After a hiatus during which she raised two daughters and celebrated the birth of four grandchildren, she returned to performing with the St. Louis Strutters, a non-profit charitable dance company.

MORE FUN FACTS

Her 1960 My Fair Lady tour through Russia was the first American theatrical troupe to visit that country since the start of the Cold War. They were there for three months as part of President Eisenhower's Exchange Program. Edward Mulhare, who later became known to television audiences as Captain Gregg in the series The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, played the role of Professor Higgins.
Suzanne enjoys scrapbooking and doing cross-stitch. For exercise, she loves to swing dance and go to the gym.
Her favorite TV show is Dancing With the Stars and her favorite movie is Gone With the Wind.
Il Divo is her favorite musical group, and Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables are her favorite Broadway shows.
"My life's greatest challenge was starting over after the end of my marriage and convincing myself that I was worth the effort. If only I'd known my new life would take me to the Follies!"

Jill Owens

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:01:11 -0800

"Summer was about going to my grandmother's house in a very small town. I'd practice acrobatics for hours in the front yard, and an audience would always gather to watch me."

The Dance Captain of the Follies is Jill Owens, 69, now in her 13th season as a Long-Legged Lovely.

She first made the jump from Davenport, Iowa, to the bright lights of national television as a June Taylor Dancer on The Jackie Gleason Show. Moving on to Broadway, she appeared in No, No, Nanette (with Ruby Keeler), Pippin (with Ben Vereen) and Tip Toes. She assumed the role of "Misty Knight" on the TV show, Blansky's Beauties, with Nancy Walker, and had parts in Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley.

Jill has performed as a Bob Fosse Dancer and a Radio City Rockette, and her film credits include Pennies from Heaven, Ritzville and Young Doctors in Love.

Jill and her husband, Kenneth White, now divide their time between Palm Springs (with the Follies, naturally), New York and Los Angeles.

MORE FUN FACTS

Jill's interests, aside from dancing and voice training, run to such eclectic pursuits as quantum physics, tai chi and aerobics.
Her husband is an accomplished artist in wood when not looking after their two golden retrievers, Sandy and Bailey.
The most interesting experience of her career was watching the great Bob Fosse at work on choreography: "He would talk a dancer into and through a great performance."
Two weeks after the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen's in Washington, Jill played the lead in a short film, Ritzville, about a town covered with ash. She wore a mask between takes to keep from breathing ash and getting hoarse.
While performing a Las Vegas-style number for Blansky's Beauties, Jill's rhinestone earrings and bracelets got hooked in the feathers of the dancer next to her, who just pulled her along. She recalls other girls getting their headdresses caught in drapes and being yanked off stage. Anything for a laugh.

Glenda Guilfoyle

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:59:03 -0800

"My family renting a cabin in New Jersey and going to Palisades Amusement Park are my favorite childhood memories of summer."

She is the prototypical classic showgirl with a lifetime spent kicking up her heels in the chorus line. At 78, she is in her 17th season as a Fabulous Follies Long-Legged Lovely.

Glenda Guilfoyle, born in New York, started out by driving back east in the family car from San Bernardino with her professional dancer parents to become, at 17, one of the famed Radio City Rockettes.

She went west again for two years in Donn Arden's Moulin Rouge in Hollywood. Handpicked by Walt Disney himself, she danced in Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue. She also appeared in such Warner Brothers films as Robin and the Seven Hoods, with Frank Sinatra, and The Music Man.

Glenda's work in television included specials with Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Dinah Shore, Dean Martin, Jimmy Durante, Rosemary Clooney and Andy Griffith. She taught at Los Angeles dance academies, appeared in television commercials, and was a successful runway model.

Glenda also bakes delicious cookies. As a single, divorced mother, she raised and supported seven children by dancing and catering special events. Now, she clucks grandmotherly over a brood of 13 grandchildren. And in her "spare time" she paints still life art.

MORE FUN FACTS

Daughter Stacy is a fine artist, daughter Stephanie is a physical therapist, daughter Karin is a hair salon owner, son Sean is an account executive, son Kurt is an L.A. Fire Department Captain, daughter Victoria is with the L.A Police Department and daughter Vanessa is a neonatal nurse.
Three years ago, she tripped in the shower at home, broke a toe, but never missed a show.
Dancing was in her genes. "Mother and Father," she says, "were in show business, and I followed in their footsteps."
Her favorite dancers were Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Not much quarrel there.

Jill Gordon

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:57:54 -0800

"Going to the beach is still my favorite summertime fun. I fondly recall the smell of suntan lotion at the beach, family barbecues and swimming when I was a kid."

The Deputy Company Dance Manager of the Follies is Jill Gordon, who, at 68, is in her 15th year with the show. She started on stage in the Moro Landis chorus line, touring Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Jill gravitated to television and danced on the Andy Williams and Dean Martin shows, then spent a full season on The Carol Burnett Show. In 1976, she began a 12-year professional relationship with Mac Davis, traveling the world, dancing and singing. She also appeared in his numerous television specials.

From 1988 to 1991, she produced her own '50s revue entitled Bop. During this time she began touring with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in a nostalgic show reminiscent of the Beach Party movies. She continued working with Avalon until 1996.

MORE FUN FACTS

Jill grew up in Los Angeles and went to high school in Burbank. "I survived Catholic school, but just barely!"
Her most memorable career moment was performing on the Fourth of July with Frankie Avalon in a park in Ohio with 30,000 people assembled there for the show.
The biggest challenge she has encountered: "Shoving a size 8 body into a size 4 costume."
With the Follies, she discovered the secret to staying thin: "Riff Markowitz (the taskmaster)."
After a Follies performance, her feet and body ache "only when I'm awake."
Raising her daughter, Amy, was Jill's greatest experience in life. Amy works in the unusual occupation of midwife.
The best part of being in the Follies, she says, ". . . is being part of a joyous, classy show that is well respected and has a positive effect on the people out front."
The only aspect of her life that this Long-Legged Lovely rues is that she's not sure about the "Long." She admits, "I would like to have been taller."

Leila Burgess

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:52:08 -0800

"Summer is about relaxing, going to the beach, laughing, eating, flirting--and, unlike in my youth, NOT going in the water and NOT getting suntanned."

As Company Dance Manager and Creative Consultant, Leila Burgess contributes to all Follies production numbers and wardrobe design, and manages the entire cast, no easy task considering the group's "seniority." She's also out front performing. At 76, she is in her 20th Follies season.

After attending New York's High School of Performing Arts, Leila danced professionally in New York's famed Latin Quarter, and made special appearances on television's Colgate Comedy Hour and Naked City. She was later the managing director of Latin Quarter Showgirls West and produced three Latin Quarter revivals from 1989 to 1992, the proceeds of which went to abused and missing children's charities.

She also established the Newport Beach Parks and Recreation Department children's dance program, where she taught and choreographed for 12 years.

Leila has two children and three grandchildren.

MORE FUN FACTS

Perhaps synchronous to her first professional job, "Latin" has remained her favorite style of dance.
Her mother revealed that, as a baby, Leila started walking on her toes as soon as she progressed from crawling, and she began taking dance classes at the age of four.
She grew up on the east side of New York and went to the West Side for dancing lessons. "There was never any doubt in my mind that I was going to be a dancer."
The physical challenge of being in the Follies is met "by getting extra rest during working days" and the mental by "not thinking about it much, just doing it. It's oh so natural." As for staying in shape, "the show is an automatic exercise program."
What she likes best about performing in the Follies: "I love dancing, wearing makeup and dressing up, with lots of laughter. What more can one want?"
Succinct answer to what would change if she had her life to live over: "Nothing."

Judy Bell

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:21:01 -0800

"Picnics, gardening, visiting family and friends, and not looking at the clock . . . freedom--that's my idea of summer!"

Since she came yodeling out of the hills of West Virginia, Judy Bell has enjoyed an impressive career spanning nearly her entire 74 years.

Her own musical comedy revue, The Judy Bell Show, was featured at the MGM hotels in Reno and Las Vegas; Harrah's hotels in Lake Tahoe and Reno; the Flamingo, Sahara and Frontier hotels in Las Vegas; and the Cinegrill at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

The veteran songstress has played the lead in stage productions of Annie Get Your Gun, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Lily Langtry at Disneyland. She was also voted "Best Las Vegas Female Performer" four times.

She has raised a son and a daughter, and revels over her five grandchildren.

This is her 18th season at the Follies.

MORE FUN FACTS

Her son, Dan Bell, is a famous stuntman. Her daughter, Beverly Bond, owns and operates a day spa in Helena, Montana. Cody Kaufman, one of Beverly's five children, is a cadet at West Point Military Academy.
Judy's mama provided her favorite quote: "Life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes."
In 1991, along with vocalist Nancy Wilson, Judy was inducted into the West High School Hall of Fame in Columbus, Ohio "I've lived a Cinderella life," she says, "with more blessings than I would have ever thought."
When Judy was a small child, her grandmother used to pick her up and place her on the dining table, "where I started singing and dancing --and waiting for the applause."
Her favorite songs are those solos she warbles each season in the Follies. Her favorite TV shows are Dancing with the Stars and American Idol.
Her advice to fellow old folks: "Life is full of things to do on a continual basis. There is no such thing as quitting."