Grammy and Drama Desk Nominee Maureen McGovern Headlines FABULOUS PALMS SPRINGS FOLLIES, Beg. Tonight

By: Jan. 07, 2014
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Maureen McGovern has been called the singer with "The Stradivarius Voice," so tremendous is her talent. Her 40-year career has encompassed recording, song writing, concerts, radio, television, film and Broadway, and is about to begin her second show-stopping stint with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, appearing tonight, January 7 through March 8, 2014. McGovern made her Broadway debut in The Pirates of Penzance in 1981. She later starred in Nine with Raul Julia and in 3 Penny Opera with Sting, and has appeared in many musicals and dramas throughout the country. In 2005, McGovern returned to Broadway, originating her Drama Desk-nominated role of Marmee in Little Women, The Musical. She continued in that role with the national touring company.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, McGovern, 64, began singing at the age of three and grew up listening to her father's barbershop quartet rehearse. By age eight she knew she wanted to be a professional singer. While working as a secretary and part-time folk singer, in 1972, she recorded a demo that was heard by the head of 20th Century Records, who promptly hired her to sing "The Morning After", the Oscar-winning theme of the classic disaster film, The Poseidon Adventure. Her rendition topped the Billboard charts. Grammy nominated for "Best New Artist" in 1973, the next year she recorded the Oscar nominated songs "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno and "Wherever Love Takes Me" from the motion picture Gold. These were followed by hits such as "Can You Read My Mind?" from the film version of Superman and "Different Worlds" from the TV series, Angie.

During the mid-80s, she also established herself as an outstanding nightclub and cabaret performer, often paying tribute to songwriters like George Gershwin, Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers. A career highlight was a solo concert at Carnegie Hall in 1989. Follies audiences now have a second opportunity to hear one of the truly great voices of our generation, in-person and onstage at the historic Plaza Theatre.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Darlene Love opens March 11 as Follies guest star, playing through May 18, 2014. ### The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies 23rd and final edition is (aptly) tilted "The Last Hurrah!" Since 1992, the Follies has been seen by over three million patrons, and celebrates the music and dance of Mid-Century America with a cast ranging in age from 55 to 84 years "young." The show features lavish, Broadway-caliber production numbers, and plays five days a week from November through late-May. In 1997, it was the subject of an Oscar-nominated short documentary entitled Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies. The show is housed in downtown Palm Springs' historic Plaza Theatre, a charming, neon-encrusted old movie house, which is an attraction itself. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Box Office at (760) 327-0225 or online at www.psfollies.com.



Videos