Our Legendary Line of Long-Legged Lovelies

Suzanne Vitale

"During the summer I love laying out in the sun and going every week to see a different Broadway show at Muny Opera (St. Louis, Mo.), the largest outdoor theater in the U.S."

Suzanne Vitale, 73, is returning to the Plaza Theatre stage for her fourth Follies season. Previously, she toured with national companies of Li'l Abner and My Fair Lady, eventually traveling with the latter to Canada and Russia. She appeared at the famed Paper Mill Playhouse--just across the river from Broadway--in productions of Oklahoma! and Silk Stockings. In Miami Beach, she danced at Lou Walters' nightclub, Café de Paris (a sister club to his famed Latin Quarter in New York).

Suzanne also appeared in more than 20 musicals and operettas at major stock theaters in the Midwest, including appearances at the Cleveland Musicarnival and the Muny Opera of St. Louis in shows such as South Pacific, Show Boat, Most Happy Fella, Bells Are Ringing and Naughty Marietta.

After a hiatus during which she raised two daughters and celebrated the birth of four grandchildren, she returned to performing with the St. Louis Strutters, a non-profit charitable dance company.

MORE FUN FACTS

Her 1960 My Fair Lady tour through Russia was the first American theatrical troupe to visit that country since the start of the Cold War. They were there for three months as part of President Eisenhower's Exchange Program. Edward Mulhare, who later became known to television audiences as Captain Gregg in the series The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, played the role of Professor Higgins.
Suzanne enjoys scrapbooking and doing cross-stitch. For exercise, she loves to swing dance and go to the gym.
Her favorite TV show is Dancing With the Stars and her favorite movie is Gone With the Wind.
Il Divo is her favorite musical group, and Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables are her favorite Broadway shows.
"My life's greatest challenge was starting over after the end of my marriage and convincing myself that I was worth the effort. If only I'd known my new life would take me to the Follies!"

Greta Albritton

"Playing 'kick the can' with the neighborhood kids and pushing a stroller with my cat Tommy in it, dressed in doll clothes, up and down the street are fond summer memories."

Greta Albritton began dancing at four years of age in her hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. While in junior high, she had . . . Read More!

Judy Bell

"Picnics, gardening, visiting family and friends, and not looking at the clock . . . freedom--that's my idea of summer!"

Since she came yodeling out of the hills of West Virginia, Judy Bell has enjoyed an impressive career spanning nearly her entire 74 years.

Her own musical comedy revue, The Judy . . . Read More!

Leila Burgess

"Summer is about relaxing, going to the beach, laughing, eating, flirting--and, unlike in my youth, NOT going in the water and NOT getting suntanned."

As Company Dance Manager and Creative Consultant, Leila Burgess contributes to all Follies production numbers and wardrobe design, and manages the . . . Read More!

Stephanie Eley

"The good ol' summertime to me means going to the beach, barbecues, lazy hot days, late afternoon thundershowers, early sunrises and late sunsets."

Joining the Follies this season is a petite lady with a show business resume that's anything but!

Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, her profession was . . . Read More!

Jill Gordon

"Going to the beach is still my favorite summertime fun. I fondly recall the smell of suntan lotion at the beach, family barbecues and swimming when I was a kid."

The Deputy Company Dance Manager of the Follies is Jill Gordon, who, at 68, is in her 15th year with the show. She started on stage in . . . Read More!

Glenda Guilfoyle

"My family renting a cabin in New Jersey and going to Palisades Amusement Park are my favorite childhood memories of summer."

She is the prototypical classic showgirl with a lifetime spent kicking up her heels in the chorus line. At 78, she is in her 17th season as a Fabulous Follies Long-Legged . . . Read More!

Joni Naber

"My husband and I enjoy taking fishing trips to Idaho where we stay in a cottage on Twin Lakes. But I definitely do not touch any live bait!"

Joni Naber, 75 years young, joined the Follies six years ago after owning and operating a dance studio in her native Washington, D.C., for 47 years. But that . . . Read More!

Jill Owens

"Summer was about going to my grandmother's house in a very small town. I'd practice acrobatics for hours in the front yard, and an audience would always gather to watch me."

The Dance Captain of the Follies is Jill Owens, 69, now in her 13th season as a Long-Legged Lovely.

She first made the jump . . . Read More!

Jane Owens

"Ladies with lace parasols, men in straw boater hats, lemonade in the park, ice cream socials . . . all those things before my time--that's the 'good ol' summertime' to me."

When you think about America's entertainment capitals, New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas immediately come to mind. But there . . . Read More!