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Cultural Center Releases New July 12, 2011
JOSHUA TREE, CA – More than four years after the historic Playhouse building in Joshua Tree, California, was virtually destroyed by a massive flood, and despite a myriad of obstacles that have been thrown in the way of the massive renovation, the newly named Kaye Ballard Theater is in its final stages of rebuilding and plans to reopen its doors this year. From tragedy arises triumph… and the opportunity to rebuild and expand the Cultural Center and its offerings to levels that were only a dream four years ago. The Cultural Center has annually provided more than 75,000 hours of service to over 6,000 patrons and program participants with its musical concerts, educational programs, live performances, violin classes, summer youth theater, HealthRHYTHMS™ recreational drumming, scholarship recitals and more. This season will see a return to live theater performances and frequent concerts in the Center's Blak Box Theater and, when the doors open, the new Kaye Ballard Theater. Complete with a live professional-quality sound stage and post-production facilities, the renovated theater complex will directly generate revenue, taxes, technical training, and employment for the Morongo Basin communities, in addition to providing top-quality performances that will draw audiences and revenue sources from beyond the area and create a self-sustaining performing arts and cultural center for the region. With well over three-quarters of a million dollars in unencumbered assets, no debt, and substantial renovation already completed in the new facilities, the Center is less than a half-million dollars away from completion of its expansion and substantial renovation of the Kaye Ballard Theater. The new theater will be a state-of-the-art venue utilizing green technologies where feasible – including the installation of a new energy-efficient lighting system that will reduce stage and theater lighting costs and electricity consumption by an estimated 85%. Its newly-installed electronic monitoring and fire suppression system substantially reduces the likelihood of a flood similar to that which destroyed the theater and does not use water laden with chemicals. The theater has also already replaced its outdated air conditioning and heating system with a commercial multi-zone, perfectly quiet, HVAC system rated at 14 SEER and has begun the construction of its water-wise demonstration garden. Many other renovations have been completed, including the installation of new and expanded ADA-compliant restrooms that were a project undertaken by the County of San Bernardino. To provide more information to the public and to complete the final phase of the renovation's financing, the Center has released an online interactive booklet-type of brochure. It can be found on the Center's website at www.hidesertculturalcenter.com. For additional information please email the Center at info@hidesertculturalcenter.com or call the box office at 760.366.3777. Sunday, December 5, 2010; Posted: 06:12 PM - by BWW News Desk Last night in Santa Fe at the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center Kaye Ballard, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi were greeted by an 'SRO' crowd in a one-night-only gala performance "From Broadway with Love". The Broadway performance benefited Animal Protection of New Mexico, a non-profit organization that has been challenging historic and widespreal cruelty in New Mexico for more than 30 years.
In attendance were many prominent Santa Feans, including Ali MacGraw. People also flew in from all over the country, including artist Hillary Knight, who designed the show's glamorous poster, which is also available for sale, signed by all three ladies. There is already talk of a possible tour, very much in the style of '4 Girls 4' which toured the US extensively back in the late 70s.
A TRIPPLE THREAT I'm excited to announce that I'm in rehearsals for a show with Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi entitled From Broadway with Love to benefit Animal Protection of New Mexico. The show is directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, who - among other things - staged concert productions for performers like Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters. The show is set for December 4, 2010 at The Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico for one performance only.
******** UPDATE (press release via PRNewswire): Hollywood and Broadway Award-winners Perform "From Broadway with Love" to Support Humane Treatment of Animals
Directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, "From Broadway with Love" will reunite Ballard, McKechnie, and Montevecchi since performing in Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" in 1998. The show will begin with Ballard, McKechnie and Montevecchi performing together with music, comedy and dance. It will continue with individual performance, and they will reunite in the show's finale.
Ballard starred on Broadway in "Gypsy," "Funny Girl," and "Nunsense." She has been in numerous films and has guest starred in a variety of television programs. Her NBC sitcom "Mothers-in-Law" was re-released on DVD in July. Recently completing "My Musical Comedy Life" in New York and Australia, Tony Award winner McKechnie is best known for her role as Cassie in the musical "A Chorus Line." In addition, McKechnie has starred in numerous Broadway productions including "Promises, Promises," "State Fair," and "On the Town." Receiving a Tony Award for her portrayal of Liliane La Fluer in "Nine," Montevecchi began her career as a prima ballerina. Inspired by dance, she began a film career in the 1950s only to leave Hollywood for a leading role in "Follies Bergere." Montevecchi's Broadway credits include starring in "Grand Hotel," and "La Plume de Ma Tanta."
Tickets range in price between $35 and $400. The $400 priced seats include a post-show champagne reception and vegan dinner attended by the cast and crew, as well as an oversized autographed print of the playbill cover. Tickets are available at www.TicketsSantaFe.org, or by calling the box office at (505) 988-1234. SOURCE Animal Protection of New Mexico |
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Look for me on The Joy Behar Show on HLN/CNN in late September. Check back soon for more details. --Kaye UPDATE: Kaye will be taping her segment for The Joy Behar Show on the afternoon of September 28th. The segment is scheduled to air on October 1. Check http://joybehar.blogs.cnn.com/ for updates.
This set has been well worth the wait. Not only does it contain the complete series - all 56 episodes lovingly remastered - but is also jam-packed with extras, including a new featurette with Kaye, "Remembering The Mothers-In-Law." The set is priced at at $39.98 SRP for 1620 minutes on 8 discs. Video is in full frame, and audio is English.
A complete list of the bonus material included:
The set is available for purchase online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, DVD Empire, DVD Planet, and Movies Unlimited "I'm Ready for my Close-Up, Mr. Lucas"
The following is an excerpt from the interview with Kaye, reprinted here by kind permission of Mr. Lucas: Tell me about Eve Arden. What was she like? It’s nice to hear things like that. Two-hundred-and-fifty dollars would be considered a joke today. What are your memories of Roger C. Carmel? Do you feel it hurt the show when he was replaced by Richard Deacon?
The writers put you and Eve into some hilarious situations. The chemistry between the two of you was superb. Perfect comic foils. You can read more by purchasing the book from Amazon.com. |
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Copyright © 2010 Kaye Ballard |
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The show, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with musical direction by Christopher Marlowe, and lighting and sound by Matt Berman, received 3 standing ovations and the crowd went wild for the three ladies. In addition to numbers that they performed together, they each headlined their own section for an audience that seemed hungry for "From Broadway with Love". Each actress had their own showstopper within their section, with Liliane performing 'Folies Bergere' from NINE for which she won a Tony Award, Donna McKechnie with 'Music and the Mirror' from A CHORUS LINE for which she won a Tony Award and Kaye Ballard stopped the show cold singing 'Lazy Afternoon' and telling an extraordinary story about her opening night in THE GOLDEN APPLE, which was one of the earliest musicals to ever win a Pulitzer prize. Ballard told the audience that she hadn't sung the song in over 40 years.
Each actress has a distinctive style and the audience ate them up. The show closed with a poignant film of before-and-after pictures of abused animals, while the girls sang Stephen Sondheim's "Not While I'm Around." The audience was literally in tears, and another ovation followed. A very glamorous party was held down the street at the Eldorado Hotel, which coincidentally, is a pet friendly hotel - one of many in Santa Fe. 
SANTA FE, N.M., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Hollywood and Broadway legends Kaye Ballard, Donna McKechnie and Liliane Montevecchi will star in a one-night-only gala performance "From Broadway with Love" at the historic Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Broadway performance will benefit Animal Protection of New Mexico, a non-profit organization that has been challenging historic and widespread animal cruelty in New Mexico for more than 30 years. Hilary Knight, internationally renowned illustrator, will design the art for the event. 
"From Broadway with Love" will take place on December 4, 2010 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 West San Francisco Street, in Santa Fe, NM at 7:30 p.m. 
The complete series of THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW is now on DVD. 