LOMA LINDA: Stars impersonate stars to help hospital
BY FIELDING BUCK
STAFF WRITER
[email protected]
Published: 21 February 2012 11:13 PM
Mickey Dolenz hooked up with Florence Henderson Tuesday night, and Martin Short channeled Miley Cyrus in a mall.
They were among nine entertainers cutting up on stage Tuesday to raise funds for Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.
The show was called “Celebrity Autobiography” and took place in a theater on Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus.
It is a long-running hit in New York City with a rotating cast of stars reading excerpts of books by other stars.
Actor Craig Bierko, who starred in “The Music Man” and other musicals on Broadway, recruited friends to do the show for the hospital, including its creators Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel.
Other cast members included Valerie Bertinelli, Lainie Kazan and Andrea Martin.
Three other stars were announced had been announced but couldn’t make it. They were Ryan Reynolds, Martha Plimpton and Matthew Perry. But Bierko, introducing the first of two performances Tuesday, said that Perry would make a donation from his salary for “The Good Wife” to the hospital.
The show began with Martin Short reading from David Hasselhoff’s “Don’t Hassle the Hoff,” followed by Kazan quoting Ethel Merman on her nerves of steel and Bierko explaining the difficulties of turning letters as Vanna White.
Dolenz became Tommy Lee courting Henderson as Pamela Anderson, and a few minutes impersonated Justin Bieber in a “mashup” saluting the Grammys. That sequence also included Short as Miley, Pack as Ricky Martin and Bierko as LL Cool J.
Bertinelli made her entrance offering parenting tips as Ivana Trump and joined in a Destiny’s Child sequence with Andrea Martin and Kazan (as Beyonce).
A celebrity diet mashup included Bertinelli talking about a love of junk food as Cher; Andrea Martin rhapsodizing over plums as Barbra Streisand; Martin Short struggling with a French accent as Celine Dion; Henderson sharing Dolly Parton’s healthy alternative to bulimia; and Pack reciting Neil Sedaka’s very specific menu requirements.
This is the second time Bierko has put on “Celebrity Autobiography” for Loma Linda. The first time was in Los Angeles with a cast that included Reynolds and Perry and several bits that were repeated in Palm Desert. Among them was Andrea Martin reading three poems by Suzanne Somers, who lives In the desert, and lengthy sequences devoted to Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson (Bierko and Bertinelli) and the Debbie Reynolds/Eddie Fisher/Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton quadrangle (featuring Reyfel, Pack, Martin Short and Henderson).
In an interview between shows, Bierko, Martin Short and Andrea Martin said they didn’t get to pick their roles and attempt to prepare. Andrea Martin said it was more fun for the audience that way.
Bierko took on the cause of the children’s hospital in 2008 after visiting it and being moved by the needs of the patients and the work of the doctors. Recruiting actors to publicize the hospitals works is one way he can contribute.
“When I left the hospital I said, too late for medical school. I’m going to pimp my famous friends.”
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STAFF WRITER
[email protected]
Published: 21 February 2012 11:13 PM
Mickey Dolenz hooked up with Florence Henderson Tuesday night, and Martin Short channeled Miley Cyrus in a mall.
They were among nine entertainers cutting up on stage Tuesday to raise funds for Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.
The show was called “Celebrity Autobiography” and took place in a theater on Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus.
It is a long-running hit in New York City with a rotating cast of stars reading excerpts of books by other stars.
Actor Craig Bierko, who starred in “The Music Man” and other musicals on Broadway, recruited friends to do the show for the hospital, including its creators Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel.
Other cast members included Valerie Bertinelli, Lainie Kazan and Andrea Martin.
Three other stars were announced had been announced but couldn’t make it. They were Ryan Reynolds, Martha Plimpton and Matthew Perry. But Bierko, introducing the first of two performances Tuesday, said that Perry would make a donation from his salary for “The Good Wife” to the hospital.
The show began with Martin Short reading from David Hasselhoff’s “Don’t Hassle the Hoff,” followed by Kazan quoting Ethel Merman on her nerves of steel and Bierko explaining the difficulties of turning letters as Vanna White.
Dolenz became Tommy Lee courting Henderson as Pamela Anderson, and a few minutes impersonated Justin Bieber in a “mashup” saluting the Grammys. That sequence also included Short as Miley, Pack as Ricky Martin and Bierko as LL Cool J.
Bertinelli made her entrance offering parenting tips as Ivana Trump and joined in a Destiny’s Child sequence with Andrea Martin and Kazan (as Beyonce).
A celebrity diet mashup included Bertinelli talking about a love of junk food as Cher; Andrea Martin rhapsodizing over plums as Barbra Streisand; Martin Short struggling with a French accent as Celine Dion; Henderson sharing Dolly Parton’s healthy alternative to bulimia; and Pack reciting Neil Sedaka’s very specific menu requirements.
This is the second time Bierko has put on “Celebrity Autobiography” for Loma Linda. The first time was in Los Angeles with a cast that included Reynolds and Perry and several bits that were repeated in Palm Desert. Among them was Andrea Martin reading three poems by Suzanne Somers, who lives In the desert, and lengthy sequences devoted to Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson (Bierko and Bertinelli) and the Debbie Reynolds/Eddie Fisher/Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton quadrangle (featuring Reyfel, Pack, Martin Short and Henderson).
In an interview between shows, Bierko, Martin Short and Andrea Martin said they didn’t get to pick their roles and attempt to prepare. Andrea Martin said it was more fun for the audience that way.
Bierko took on the cause of the children’s hospital in 2008 after visiting it and being moved by the needs of the patients and the work of the doctors. Recruiting actors to publicize the hospitals works is one way he can contribute.
“When I left the hospital I said, too late for medical school. I’m going to pimp my famous friends.”
Read More