ABC
Presents
In Aid of The Actors Fund of America
Alexander H. Cohen
From
Radio City Music Hall
The Centennial Celebration
NIGHT OF 100 STARS 1 & 2
A Brentwood Television Production
Produced by Hildy Parks ( 1982 & 85 )
Directed by Clark Jones ( 1982 & 85 )
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| ABC Promo Card |
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| Joan with Farley Granger |
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| Joan with John Forsythe & Linda Evans |
THE NEW YORK TIMES..
My armchair impression of the occasion is that watching it on television is probably preferable to having been a spectator at the theater. The evening ran on for more than five hours, generating a good bit of grumbling about the long waits between numbers. For television the skillful art of editing has eliminated the irritating pauses. Stuffing the event into two-and-a-half hours - that's what is left after the commercials - Hildy Parks, writer, co-producer and Mr. Cohen's wife, and Clark Jones, the director, have put together a nonstop parade of entertainment and glitzy celebrity flashing.
An off-stage announcer refers at the outset to the embarrassment of riches when he reveals that this is to be a ''night of 100 stars'' - slight pause and then an elevation in vocal pitch -''and then some!'' He might have added, ''only in New York!''
Radio City Music Hall makes a thoroughly splendid setting for this kind of gala. And the entire show, while bursting at its sequined seams with Hollywood names, reeks of New York glamour and energy, from Liza Minnelli doing her ''New York, New York'' belting routine, assisted by several New York Yankees in uniform, to Mayor Koch in top hat and tails singing the introduction to a segment on Broadway musicals.
What ''Night of 100 Stars'' finally boils down to is something on the order of almost one star a television minute. At times, the content threatens to become virtually subliminal. Some historical photographs are flashed on the screen with dizzying speed. When all else fails, the familiar faces are simply whisked by the cameras on the slightest of pretexts.
A fashion show is used to showcase several female stars. The Rockettes at one point serve as escorts for a long line of male stars. The television contingent is displayed, neatly and cleverly, in a gentle takeoff of the mystery-guest ploy on ''What's My Line?'' This affords an opportunity to introduce quickly everybody from Michelle Lee and Cathy Lee Crosby to John Schneider and Howard Cosell.
The 100 years of the Actors' Fund is covered in decades throughout the evening, with each narrator recounting the historical highpoints and curiosities of a particular period. These sections generally encompass the class acts, beginning with Princess Grace of Monaco and Elizabeth Taylor and ending with James Earl Jones and Colleen Dewhurst.
Every so often there is a pause for a production number. Some are obvious within the context - songs, for instance, by Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, Lionel Ritchie and a very effectively restrained Sammy Davis Jr. Some are very pleasant surprises -Miss Piggy and Placido Domingo in an impassioned duet. Some are merely curious - Lola Falana, for example, gets a curiously long and prominent showcase that is only puzzling when time is at such a premium.
But, on the whole, Mr. Cohen and company have done a superb job in pulling together a glittering collection of names and faces. If you like the celebrity razzle-dazzle of things like the Academy Awards, you'll positively swoon over ''Night of 100 Stars.'' Among the other key credits are Roy A. Somlyo, co-producer with Miss Parks; Eliot Lawrence, musical director, and Albert Stephenson, who did the musical staging.
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| Joan present The Diamond Fashion Show |
THE NEW YORK TIMES
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place at New York's Radio City Music Hall last Sunday.
The event, for which ticket-buyers payed up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as ''The Night of 100 Stars'' but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like.
For almost 51/2 hours the audience patiently watched as just about every major star of TV, cinema, and theater made some sort of fleeting appearance, often after a 20-minute between-scenes wait.
All of this makes one wonder if this is the future of live entertainment -- everything just a big videotaping session?
Fortunate television viewers will be able to see a 3-hour version of the extravaganza on Monday, March 8, from 8-11 p.m. -- without any of the long agonizing, expectant pauses but with commercials perhaps just as agonizing.
As a critic, I have long since become a bit blase about show-biz personalities, but this conglomeration of people like Liza Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Princess Grace, Gene Kelly, James Stewart, Ginger Rogers, Lillian Gish, Jane Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones, Ed Asner, Jason Robards, Brooke Shields, Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, and about 213 others was as impressive an array of talent as ever to be seen on one stage in one evening. Incidentally, the only stars who received standing ovations were Bette Davis and James Cagney.
When the taping ended at around 12:30 a.m., those with $1000 tickets (executive producer Alexander Cohen had provided me with a pair of $1000 press seats) were invited to a supper ball at the Hilton Hotel about four blocks up Sixth Avenue. When we emerged from the theater, we discovered that three lanes of the four-lane avenue had been covered with lush red carpets and the streets on either side were lined with fans, shouting out the names of their stars as they paraded to the Hilton.
At one point I found myself walking between New York Mayor Edward Koch (who did a song ajd dance number with a broom instead of a cane in the show) and ex-TV anchorman Walter Cronkite (who was in the audience). And I must report that Uncle Walter received far more applause outside the theater than Mayor Ed.
When I exited the supper dance at 3:30 a.m., leaving behind a seemingly never-tiring array of stars eating and dancing, the street was still lined with energetic fans shouting the names of stars as they emerged. It was like a scene from ''A Star Is Born.'' Oh yes, James Mason was there, too, kicking up his heels with other male stars in a special Rockette routine.
Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimates that the 5,800 seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. He says the show itself cost about $4 million to produce and should yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J.
ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights to the show. At this moment, director Clark Jones is busy cutting the tapes back to three hours so free home viewers on March 8 should be getting the entertainment bargain of a lifetime.
As for me, I'm still resting up. However, I am looking forward to really seeing the actual show on videotape, now that I've had the experience of being there live.
NIGHT OF 100 STARS II {LUCILLE BALL, JOE NAMATH, JOE DIMAGGIO, GEORGE BURNS, AND OTHERS} (TV)
Summary
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities and opens with young Drew Barrymore wishing to see one hundred stars. Her dream is fulfilled as a Pan Am jet flies over New York City -- passing Mayor Ed Koch dressed as a traffic cop -- until it stops at Radio City Music Hall. As the stars disembark at the Music Hall, the bestangled Rockettes dance onstage to "This Is a Star," and Barrymore joins them in a kickline finale. Highlights include: a production number about New York with Leonard Bernstein conducting "New York, New York"; Peter Allen descending on a crescent moon while singing "The Best That You Can Do" (the theme from "Arthur"); Ashford & Simpson with Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan"; Placido Domingo strolling arm and arm with Marisa Berenson and Deborah Raffin while singing "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York" to pushcart vendor Maureen Stapleton; Robert Klein with "My Town, That's Manhattan"; Lucie Arnaz with "New York, New York (It's a Helluva Town)"; Jerry Orbach crooning "42nd Street," Leslie Uggams with "The A Train"; Melba Moore with "Uptown" and Petula Clark with her hit "Downtown"; Carol Channing and Big Bird in a duet to "How About You?"; Dinah Shore with the bittersweet "Autumn in New York"; Patti LaBelle with "On Broadway"; Jennifer Holliday with "New York City Rhythm"; Joe Namath with "When You're a Jet"; the Muppets with Kander and Ebb's "New York, New York"; and an all-star finale, "New York State of Mind." Next, John Forsythe introduces a celebration of American television; Lucille Ball recalls the Golden Age of television; Hal Linden, as ringmaster, and Michele Lee and Nancy Dussault, dressed as showgirls, sing "TV Is a Circus" with lyrics that include titles of TV series, featuring the following stars, who take a bow and join in a balloon-filled finale: Nell Carter, Tony Danza, Harry Anderson, Gary Coleman, Soleil Moon Frye, James Noble, Inga Swenson, Dick Clark, Charlotte Rae, Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Scott Baio, Tempestt Bledsoe, Lisa Bonet, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Gavin MacLeod, Marla Gibbs, Bob Newhart, Emmanuel Lewis, Tyne Daly, Heather Thomas, Doug Barr, Pierce Brosnan, Stephanie Zimbalist, Jameson Parker, David Hasselhoff, Lee Horsley, Kate Jackson, Daniel Hug-Kelly, William Shatner, Rex Smith, Perry King, Pernell Roberts, William Daniels, Jack Palance, Tony Franciosa, Rene Enriquez, Bruce Weitz, Joe Spano, Betty Thomas, Jennifer O'Neill, Linda Gray, Lorenzo Lamas, John Forsythe, Linda Evans, Joan Collins, Diahann Carroll, Julie Harris, Lisa Hartman, Joan Van Ark, Donna Mills, and Anne Baxter. Next, George Burns discusses the origins of vaudeville and the following entertainers perform brief excerpts: the McGuire Sisters with a medley of pop songs; Doug Henning with a paper-tearing illusion; Roby Gasser and his performing Sea Lions; ventriloquist Ronn Lucas with his dummy; Robert Klein in a stand-up routine; and the Manhattan Transfer with a scat number.
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| Joan attends the 1985 after party at The Hilton.. |
Next, in a segment about dance, Dick Van Dyke narrates the tale of actor Conrad Kenson, who left money to the Actors Fund to give shoes to unemployed actors; Van Dyke then sings and dances to Kander and Ebb's original song, "A New Pair of Shoes," which segues into a tap number by Gregory Hines, Hinton Battle, Lee Roy Reams, Victor Griffin, and Gregg Burge, followed by the tapping of Georgia Engel, Elaine Joyce, Beth Howland, Bonnie Franklin, Marge Champion, Nanette Fabray, and Christopher Walken, then by ballet stars Cynthia Gregory and Alexander Godunov in a brief pas de deux, and by ballroom dancing couples Sandy Duncan and Don Correia, and Jane Powell and Van Johnson; the dance installment concludes with Alfonso Ribeiro and Van Dyke in a soft shoe number, followed by Ribeiro, the Rockettes, and all the tap dancers in a finale featuring Gwen Verdon, Charles "Honi" Coles, Juliet Prowse, Maurice Hines, Chita Rivera, Donny Osmond, Debbie Allen, Donald O'Connor, Van Dyke, and Ginger Rogers. Next, Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding toast the popularity of radio and the Pointer Sisters sing "Jump" as the U.S. Olympic gymnasts Tim Daggett, Peter Vidmar, Jim Hartung, Mitch Gaylord, and Julianne McNarmara perform intricately choreographed athletic demonstrations; Howard Cosell then introduces the following sports heroes: Carl Lewis, Glenn Cunningham, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Wilma Rudolph, Angel Cordero Jr., Eddie Arcaro, Nancy Lopez, Patty Berg, Scott Hamilton, Tiffany Chin, Peggy Fleming, Peter and Kitty Carruthers, Esther Williams, Candi Costie, Tracy Ruiz, Al Unser, Danny Sullivan, Tracy Austin, Don Budge, Bernard King, Bob Cousy, Mark Gastineau, Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Dan Marino, Y.A. Tittle, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio. Next, Kenny Rogers explains the popularity of the fiddle, the banjo, and the guitar to illustrate the origins of country music and introduces Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers who sing "Houston"; Anita Morris then describes the origins of burlesque and introduces comedian Henny Youngman, who performs a stand-up routine; Bernadette Peters hosts a segment on "The Fearless Females of the Silent Screen," featuring film clips of and onstage appearances by silent film actresses Billie Dove, Laura LaPlante, Leatrice Joy, and Lillian Gish; next, Peters presents clips from the work of contemporary stars before introducing them: a bald-headed Dustin Hoffman, Lana Turner, Robert Preston, Sidney Poitier, Olivia DeHavilland, Robert DeNiro, Danny Kaye, and Laurence Olivier.
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| Joan attends the 1982 after party in New York |
Next, in a segment on fashion, Joan Collins introduces the following stars, who are modeling contemporary fashions: Shari Belafonte-Harper wearing a design by Tracy Mills, Gregory Harrison wearing Giorgio Armani, Ali MacGraw and Tony Roberts wearing Missoni, Florence Henderson wearing Neil Bieff, Treat Williams wearing Lanin for the Greif Companies, Valerie Bertinelli wearing Margi Kent, Lynn Swann wearing Alan Flusser for JCPenney, Cathy Lee Crosby wearing Karl Lagerfeld, Georg Stanford Brown wearing Lanvin for the Greif Companies, Heather Locklear and David Birney wearing Lee Wright for JCPenney, Brooke Shields and Michael Ives wearing Perry Ellis, Morgan Fairchild wearing Fabrice, Teri Garr wearing Halston III for JCPenney, Dyan Cannon wearing Carole Little, Ellen Burstyn wearing Geoffrey Beene, Cristina Ferrare wearing Albert Capraro, Colleen Dewhurst wearing Pauline Trigere, Morgan Brittany wearing Fernando Sanchez, Susan Lucci wearing Karl Lagerfeld, Jill St. John wearing Halston III for JCPenney, Cynthia Sikes wearing Mary McFadden, Mary McFadden wearing her own design, Janet Leigh wearing Oleg Cassini, Jacqueline Bisset wearing OMO Norma Kamali, Jaclyn Smith wearing Bill Blass, Deidre Hall wearing Bob Mackie, Jane Seymour wearing Carolina Herrera, Carolina Herrera wearing her own design, Joan Van Ark wearing Oscar de la Renta, Gloria Loring wearing Oleg Cassini, Donna Mills wearing Tracy Mills, Lisa Hartman wearing Fernando Sanchez, Lynda Carter wearing Jacqueline de Ribes, Jacqueline de Ribes, Jacqueline de Ribes wearing her own design, Diahann Carroll and Linda Evans wearing Galanos, Claudia Cardinale wearing Valentino, Priscilla Presley wearing Oscar de la Renta, Linda Gray wearing Bob Mackie, Raquel Welch wearing OMO Norma Kamali, Angie Dickinson wearing Albert Caprano, Laura Branigan and Michael Vollbracht wearing Michaele Vollbracht. Following this is a procession of designers Tracy Mills, Fabrice, Geoffrey Beene, Carole Little, Halston, Fernando Sanchez, Bob Mackie, Albert Capraro, Oleg Cassini, and the Emanuels, concluding with Ann-Margret in a gold gown by Emanuel ..
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| 1985 finale |
Next, Barbara Walters and Walter Cronkite host a special salute to the following achievers who have widened horizons and contributed to the service of mankind: Nobel Prize-winning chemist and peace activist Dr. Linus C. Pauling; civil rights heroine Rosa L. Parks; surgical procedure and heart transplant pioneer Dr. Christian Barnard; pediatrician and anti-nuclear proliferation activist Dr. Helen Caldicott; National Farm Workers Association founder Cesar E. Chavez; feminist leader and Ms. Magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem; Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Updike; Dr. Seuss creator Theodor S. Geisel; educator and author Henry Steele Commager, psychologist, author, and educator and Dr. Kenneth B. Clark; and modern dance choreographer and dancer Martha Graham. Next, a young dancer performs a solo dance to an instrumental version of John Lennon's "Imagine" while Cronkite comments that one person can make a difference and that "we must acknowledge that we are truly one"; this comment segues into the Rockettes in white top hat and tails dancing to "One" from "A Chorus Line" and partnering the following performers who take a bow: Mark Hamill, Lloyd Bridges, Bert Convy, Charles Bronson, Cab Calloway, Michael Caine, Yul Brynner, Dabney Coleman, Vic Damone, Billy Crystal, Richard Dreyfuss, Matt Dillon, Bob Fosse, Charles Durning, Ben Gazzara, David Frost, Jim Henson, Marvin Hamlisch, Rock Hudson, Geoffrey Holder, Burgess Meredith, Rod McKuen, Bert Parks, Jim Nabors, Tony Randall, Vinent Price, Richard Thomas, James Stewart, Robert Wagner, Robert Urich, Billy Dee Williams, Edward I. Koch, and star number 288, Carol Burnett. Everyone joins the Rockettes in a kick line and are rewarded with a standing ovation. The special concludes with the entire complement of stars joining on stage to sing Jerry Herman's "The Best of Times Is Now."
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