INVISIBLE THEATRE PRESS RELEASE Contact: Cathy Johnson or Susan Claassen 1400 N. First Ave, Tucson, AZ. 85719 Administration – (520) 884-0672 Box Office – (520) 882-9721 [email protected] www.invisibletheatre.com FOR RELEASE ON OR AFTER FEBRUARY 10, 2012 THE INVISIBLE THEATRE Presents With Musical Direction by Ron Abel Made possible in part through the generous support of Sonora Investment Management WHERE: The Berger Performing Arts Center 1200 W. Speedway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85745 WHEN: Friday, March 2, 2012 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 3:00 pm TICKETS: Ticket Price: $42 To charge tickets by phone call: (520) 882-9721 To purchase tickets on-line: OvationTix at www.invisibletheatre.com Discounts available for groups of ten or more RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes with no intermission Tucson, Arizona (February 10, 2012); The incomparable Lucie Arnaz sparkles in LATIN ROOTS! “These are the rhythms of my soul”, says Lucie and indeed they are! This is a not-to-be-missed eclectic celebration of her musical heritage blending south of the border sounds, fiery Latin classics and enduring American standards with sophistication and sassy spice! As Michael Feinstein says, “She captures the energy and spirit of her father’s (Desi Arnaz) music and puts her own inimitable stamp on it. She’s an original and a treasure!” 1 Believe it or not, Lucie Arnaz is celebrating over 45 years in show business. She began her long career in a recurring role on television on The Lucy Show, opposite her mother, Lucille Ball. At age fifteen, she became a series regular on Here’s Lucy, a show that ran for six seasons. She starred in her own series, The Lucie Arnaz Show and later in the critically acclaimed Sons & Daughters on CBS. On the big screen, Lucie has starred opposite Neil Diamond and Sir Laurence Olivier in The Jazz Singer (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination); opposite Tom Laughlin in Billy Jack Goes To Washington; alongside Ken Howard in Second Thoughts; and opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Henry Winkler in Down To You, a Miramax film. Most recently Lucie co-starred with Richard Roundtree, Robert Loggia and Bob Forster in Wild Seven; and in an award winning controversial new film about secondhand smoke from writer/director Alyssa Bennett entitled, The Pack, that debuted at Sundance. She has starred in many made for television films, as well, including the cult classic Who Killed The Black Dahlia?, Washington Mistress, The Mating Season opposite Laurence Luckinbill and Swoosie Kurtz, Who Gets The Friends? with Jill Clayburg and James Farentino and Abduction of Innocence opposite Dirk Benedict. On the stage, Lucie got her Equity card playing many of the best women’s roles in the theatre: Sally Bowles in Cabaret; Daisy Mae in Li’l Abner (her first time opposite Dirk Benedict); Princess Winifred, opposite Kaye Medford, Rudy Vallee, Christine Andreas and Don Amendolia in Once Upon A Mattress; Goodbye Charlie (produced by Burt Reynolds); and A Place To Stay, opposite John Ritter. With Stockard Channing and Sandy Duncan, Lucie created the role of Kathy in the West Coast premiere of Vanities at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. She won the role of Gittel Mosca in the national company of the Cy Coleman- Dorothy Field’s “love of a musical,” Seesaw, opposite John Gavin and Tommy Tune, and directed by Michael Bennett. She spent a summer at The Jones Beach Theatre in New York, playing Annie Oakley in Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun with Harve Presnell. During that summer, Broadway beckoned and she auditioned for and snagged the coveted role of the unforgettably wacky Sonia Wolsk in the Neil Simon- Marvin Hamlisch-Carole Bayer Sager-musical They’re Playing Our Song, directed by Robert Moore, for which she received The Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle, Theatre World and Outer Critic’s Circle Awards. In 1979, during the run of They’re Playing Our Song, Lucie met her husband, actor-writer, Laurence Luckinbill, while he was also on Broadway in another Neil Simon hit, Chapter Two. The couple were married in June of 1980 and they have appeared together in the American premiere of Educating Rita, directed by Mike Ockrent; sold out tours of I Do! I Do! and They’re Playing Our Song; national companies of Whose Life is it Anyway? and the Andrew Bergman comedy Social Security, directed by Mike Nichols (Carbonelle Award); and in the revival of Lunt and Fontanne’s The Guardsman at The Papermill Playhouse. Lucie has also starred opposite Tommy Tune in the international company of the acclaimed Gershwin musical My One and Only (Sarah Siddons Award). Ms. Arnaz returned to the Broadway stage where she received rave reviews for her portrayal of Bella in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Lost In Yonkers, written by Neil Simon and directed by Gene Saks. 2 Lucie has starred Off-Broadway as Glorie in Grace and Glorie, a two-hander with Estelle Parsons; and as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s Tony-Award-winning tour de force Master Class, directed by Don Amendolia (who also directed her as Ruth in the Reprise production of Wonderful Town). Lucie flew to London in 2000 to play Alexandra opposite Maria Friedman, Joanna Riding and Ian McShane in the new Cameron Mackintosh musical, The Witches of Eastwick, which opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. She has starred at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Eduardo Machado’s Once Removed; A Picasso, written by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by John Tillinger; Ann and Debbie with Elizabeth Ashley; and in April 2006, she opened in Sonia Flew, costarring with her youngest child, then a senior and theatre major at University of Miami, Katharine Desiree Luckinbill. Touring the U.S. and Europe with her critically acclaimed nightclub act, Lucie has made stops in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Tahoe, Reno, The Cinegrill in LA, New York’s elegant Rainbow and Stars, Feinstein’s and several sold out appearances at the world famous Birdland Jazz Club. Her first album, “Just in Time” was released on the Concord Jazz label and, her newest CD, “Latin Roots” was released in 2010 through LML Music. Throughout her varied career, Ms. Arnaz has found herself helming several different production retrospectives based on the iconic fame of her parents, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. With her husband, Larry Luckinbill, she teamed up to form ArLuck Entertainment, which produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary, Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie, (for NBC in 1993, subsequently on A&E and Nickelodeon, and currently available on DVD), published two CD-ROMs (Lucy & Desi: The Scrapbooks, Volume I and How to Save Your Family History: A 10-Step Guide by Lucie Arnaz). Most recently, ArLuck Entertainment produced An Evening With Lucille Ball: Thank You For Asking, a one-woman show starring Suzanne LaRusch, co-written and directed by Ms. Arnaz and currently touring the U.S. and Canada. In 2001 Lucie and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., executive produced the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special which aired on CBS and received an Emmy nomination. Miss Arnaz says with a smile: “A few of those kinds of projects are healthy. My parents are always happiest when they’re working.” In 2006 Lucie spent several months back on “The Great White Way” co-starring with Jonathan Pryce, Norbert Leo Butz, Rachel York and Gregory Jbara then Keith Carradine, Brian D’Arcy James, and Sherie Rene Scott in the rib-tickling Jeffrey Lane-David Yazbek musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, brilliantly directed by Jack O’Brien and playing to sell-out crowds at the Imperial Theatre, where she made her first Broadway appearance 30 years before in They’re Playing Our Song. In January of 2010, Lucie was Artistic Director for BABALU: A Celebration of the Latin Music Craze of the ‘40s and ‘50s as Seen Through the Music of The Desi Arnaz Orchestra which opened the 40th season of the famed Lyric and Lyricist Series at the 92nd St. Y in New York City with sold out performances. The show received “sizzling” reviews when it played to Miami audiences the following summer. ArLuck Entertainment also currently produces all of Miss Arnaz’s symphony and concert performances, her lecture appearances (Surviving Success and Q&A seminars), as well as Mr. Luckinbill’s four one man shows (Lyndon, Clarence Darrow, Tonight!, Teddy, Tonight!, Hemingway, The Abraham and Larry Show: My Week In Bibleland and a compilation lecture entitled The Great Americans: Words Matter. With her husband, Ms. Arnaz is mother to three beautiful and talented children: Simon (born in 1980), Joseph (1982) and Katharine (1985) in addition to being stepmother to his two sons, Nicholas (1969) and Benjamin (1975). It is these credits of which Lucie is most proud. 3 THE INVISIBLE THEATRE Announces Lucie Arnaz To be the recipient of the 2012 Goldie Klein Guest Artist Award February 10, 2012, Tucson, Arizona; Lucie Arnaz will receive The Invisible Theatre's 2012 “Goldie Award.” This award was established in 1988 as a way to pay tribute to Goldie Klein, mother of IT's artistic director, Susan Claassen. Every year a guest artist at the Invisible Theatre is selected. Past recipients have included such illustrious artists as Ann Hampton Callaway, Steve Ross, Rain Pryor, Norma Jean Darden, Jeffrey Haskell, Amanda McBroom and most recently, Lynn Redgrave. Ms. Claassen stated, "The selection of Lucie Arnaz for the 2012 "Goldie Award" is a perfect fit. Her concert is a tribute to her father, Desi Arnaz and mother Lucille Ball. This award was set up to pay tribute to my mother.