Franz Set for One-Night Only Performance of FANDANCE: THE LEGEND OF SALLY RAND, 3/20
Joy Franz will make a special one-night only appearance in Misty Rowe's dance musical 'Fandance: The Legend of Sally Rand' held at the Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ on March 20.
A captivating true story of the famed burlesque queen who started out on a Quaker farm and ran way with the circus to grow up in the days of Vaudeville and be discovered by Cecil B. DeMille, only to lose her film career when "sound" came in, due to a lisp. Down and out on the streets of Chicago during the Great Depression, Sally saw an ad for exotic acts at the Paramount Club and bartered for two big ostrich fans at the pawn shop, and the most infamous of fan dances was born.
Arrested four times in one day for indecent exposure at the Chicago World's Fair, she was released for "want of equity," meaning you couldn't see anything no matter how much you tried. A young girl named Rosie, denied the right to buy a ticket because of her age, snuck into the World's Fair to see the famous dancer and never forgot the grace and beauty she saw. The two women's paths would cross once more at the end of their lives. The story takes place all the years in-between.
One an infamous fan dancer who would open a nude dude ranch and be known as "America's Treasure;" the other an ordinary woman who would iron clothes in exchange for dance lessons for her daughter and go to garage sales to find bargains.
Fate takes a twist and Rosie finds an old woman at a garage sale selling Sally Rand's mementos. Memories are shared. The old woman asks for the name of Rosie's daughter, takes a playbill and signs it, "To Misty from Sally Rand."
Written and directed by Misty Rowe, the show takes the audience through 81 years of dance history with a musical story that will tear at your heartstrings. Misty is remembered for the box office hit, Always, Patsy Cline, along with her 19 years on Hee Haw that won her TV Land's Entertainer's Award. A professional director for S.D.C., Ms. Rowe spent 8 years in Fairfield County, Connecticut, writing Fandance with the guidance of local historians. She also portrays the older Sally with her favorite co-stars.
Broadway actress Joy Franz, whose exceptional voice has put her in more hits on Broadway than most performers could ever dream about. From the original production of Pippin and Stephen Sondheim's Company, Ms. Franz also went on to be the Wicked Stepmother for years in Into the Woods, including the national tour and its production on PBS. Her comedic talents shined in Guys & Dolls and her unforgettable voice and elegance graced the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass at the Kennedy Cente
For more information, visit http://www.fandancethedancemusical.com/
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