ETHEL MERMAN'S BROADWAY With Rita Mckenzie Plays The Gem Theatre Thru 11/22

In the Golden Age of Broadway, Ethel Merman was the Queen of Broadway. She sang all the great songs, played all the great plays and knew all the great personalities! Ethel Merman's Broadway recreates a theatrical era filled with charm, wit, personality, and most of all, wonderful music.

This smash Off-Broadway hit has had a remarkable run, its national tour garnering rave reviews. The words and music of Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Jule Styne and Irving Berlin come alive in the incomparable style of Ethel Merman. "There's No Business Like Show Business," "I Got Rhythm," and "Everything's Coming Up Roses" are only a few of the numbers in this musical salute to the golden age of American Musical Theatre. Rita McKenzie weaves the songs that made Ethel Merman famous into a journey through an era which will forever be remembered as one of Broadway's finest hours!

About Rita McKenzie

Rita McKenzie's dazzling recreation of Ethel Merman's Broadway has electrified audiences worldwide. Her internationally acclaimed performance started Off-Broadway at the John Houseman Theatre in New York City, and she performed at Carnegie Hall, Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles, Harrah's Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and recently on an SRO eight city tour of Japan. The exciting original cast album of Ethel Merman's Broadway has just been released on Varese Sarabande Records.

Miss McKenzie starred in the Los Angeles Premiere of the Off-Broadway musical Ruthless! and she can be heard on the Original L.A. Cast Recording of the show. She received rave reviews for her role as Phoebe Farber in the Pre-Broadway production of Hurry! Hurry! Hollywood! in Los Angeles and raves again as Maggie Jones in 42nd Street with Mariette Hartley. Her other starring roles include Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, Belle Poitrine in Little Me, Domina in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Cleo in The Most Happy Fella, Widow Corney in Oliver!, Nurse Custer in Whoopee! and, of course, Mama Rose in Gypsy.

Miss McKenzie is a popular Symphony Concert artist. She sang the rousing finale on the 1996 ratings smash - the Washington, DC Fourth of July Spectacular. She has been featured with the Philadelphia Orchestra Pops, as well as with the Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Diego, Austin, Ottawa, Baltimore and Phoenix Pops and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. Miss McKenzie honored Cole Porter when she appeared at his 100th birthday celebrations at Carnegie Hall with Donald Pippin and with Eric Kunzel and the Centennial Orchestra in Indianapolis. She made her London debut in the fall of 1995 in the Gala Celebration of the Anniversary of the End of World War II, The Fleet's In.

TV audiences will remember Miss McKenzie for her role as Mrs. Littlejohn on NBC's "Frasier" as well as Rita Marcus on "Big Brother Jake" for The Family Channel and also for her recurring role on "Daddy Dearest" starring Richard Lewis and Don Rickles for the Fox Network.

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