Angela Lansbury: One of Ron Masak's Heroes

"Angela Lansbury is the Rolls Royce of show business," said actor Ron Masak during his interview on our Movie Addict HQ radio show yesterday. Ron worked with this beloved actress for eight seasons on "Murder, She Wrote" -- one of my all-time favorite television shows. He mentioned how great Angela was to work with. "She was never angry, always so generous and professional," he added. He particularly admires the way she helped rejuvenate so many actors' careers by giving them guest-starring roles in her popular series.

No wonder Ron included Angela Lansbury in his inspirational and highly entertaining book, I'VE MET ALL MY HEROES FROM A TO Z, which is filled with great stories about his interaction with famous figures from the world of sports, politics and showbiz. Ron was so much fun to talk with as he related his interesting experiences with people like Steve Allen, Elvis Presley, Buzz Aldren, Ingrid Bergman, George Burns, Ronald Reagan -- and even the Pope!

Ron's book is a fascinating read. Plus his interview on MAHQ comes across as absolutely delightful. He has a wealth of info to share. After all, he's been in 20 feature films and over 300 TV shows.

Here's a link to Ron's interview on BlogTalkRadio:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/movieaddictheadquarters

Hooray for Jerry Herman!

Movie addicts like me owe a debt of gratitude to Jerry Herman for giving us our anthem, “Just Go to the Movies,” a song from one of his many musical productions. And now, with the splendid documentary, “Words and Music by Jerry Herman,” we have the opportunity to celebrate the life of this legendary composer and lyricist while enjoying highlights from his other outstanding theatrical accomplishments.

“Just Go to the Movies” may not be mentioned in director Amber Edwards’ entertaining film, but her documentary boasts wonderful scenes from such Broadway hits as “Mame,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and “Hello, Dolly!” What a treat it is to see stars like Angela Lansbury, Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Mary Martin, George Hearn and Michael Feinstein belting out Herman’s endearing and infectious songs, especially Lansbury's spirited rendition of "Mame" and the "La Cage" cast's emotional rehearsal of "The Best of Times Is Now."

My biggest surprise? Those enticing scenes from “Mack and Mabel,” a musical I wasn’t aware of before seeing this film. How I wish I’d seen it on stage! Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters co-starred as Mack Sennett, a filmmaker called the “King of Comedy” back in the early movie years, and Mabel Normand, one of the stars he featured in his motion pictures. The numbers presented here really intrigued me. It’s hard to believe this musical flopped. Go figure.

Also fascinating to see and hear are the interviews with Lansbury, Channing, Hearn and Feinstein, who all seem to greatly admire Jerry Herman. And why not? Herman created the words and music for some of Broadway’s most popular shows -- even though he never learned to read or write music.

Personally, Jerry Herman earned a special place in my heart mainly because of two songs: “Tap Your Troubles Away” (I’ve always found tap dancing better than Zen) and, as mentioned before, “Just Go to the Movies.” While doing shows with the Mesa College Musical Comedy Troupe, every time we sang and danced to “Just Go to the Movies” (from “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine”), my spirits were lifted by Herman’s lyrics advising everyone “to let some shadows appear on the screen” whenever “your life appears a bit lean.”

No doubt about it, watching "Words and Music by Jerry Herman" offers “the best of times” for musical theater fans. Happily, it’s scheduled for release by PBS Home Video on January 1, 2008.