Our Legendary Line of Long-Legged Lovelies

At age 18 Suzanne Vitale

Suzanne Vitale, 72, is returning to the Plaza Theatre stage for her third 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 Walter's 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 Muni 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.

What is your favorite Follies memory? "During my very first Follies performance, my showgirl backpack got caught in the curtains at the top of the stairs. The show actually had to stop just so I could be untangled. What an initiation!"

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. Edward Mulhare, who later became known to television audiences as Captain Gregg in the series The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, played the role of Professor Higgins.
Suzanne enjoys scrap booking and doing cross-stitch. For exercise, she loves to swing dance and go to the gym.
The happiest she's ever been is dancing onstage . . . like she's doing now!
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 The 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!"
"Seabiscuit taught us that you don't throw a life away just because you get banged up a little."
In 1960, I performed in Russia for three months as part of President Eisenhower's Exchange Program. We were the first Americans in Russia after the rise of the Iron Curtain.
"It (life) just gets better because you're wiser; you know more."

Judy Bell

Since she came yodeling out of the hills of West Virginia, Judy Bell has enjoyed an impressive career spanning nearly her entire 73 years.

Her own musical comedy revue, The Judy Bell Show, was featured at the MGM hotels in Reno and Las Vegas; Harrah's hotels in Lake Tahoe and Reno; the Flamingo, . . . Read More!

Leila Burgess

As Company Dance Manager and Creative Consultant, Leila Burgess contributes to all Follies production numbers and wardrobe design, and manages the entire cast, no easy task considering the group's "seniority." She's also out front performing. At 75, she is in her 19th Follies season.

After . . . Read More!

Jill Gordon

The Deputy Company Dance Manager of the Follies is Jill Gordon, who, at 67, is in her 14th year with the show. She started on stage in the Moro Landis chorus line, touring Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Jill gravitated to television and danced on the Andy Williams and Dean . . . Read More!

Glenda Guilfoyle

She is the prototypical classic showgirl with a lifetime spent kicking up her heels in the chorus line. At 77, she is in her 16th season as a Fabulous Follies Long-Legged Lovely.

Glenda Guilfoyle, born in New York, started out by driving back east in the family car from San Bernardino with her . . . Read More!

Marlene Jones-Wallace

Making her Follies debut this season, Marlene Jones-Wallace was a guest dancer and then principal with the California Ballet Company for 10 years. She was best known for her performances as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Swanhilda in Coppelia. She gained recognition throughout the dance . . . Read More!

Lark Kenney

Tap and jazz dance classes were the passion of Lark Kenney, 58, while growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she also performed in school talent shows and local theater. Encouraged by her mother "to become a lady," she entered such beauty pageants as Miss Indiana and Miss Teenage America.

In . . . Read More!

Joni Naber

Joni Naber, 74 years young, joined the Follies five years ago after owning and operating a dance studio in her native Washington, D.C., for 47 years. But that was after an illustrious performing career that began with appearances on television in the nation's capital when she was in her teens.

She . . . Read More!

Jill Owens

The Dance Captain of the Follies is Jill Owens, 68, now in her 12th season as a Long-Legged Lovely. She first made the jump from Davenport, Iowa, to the bright lights of national television as a June Taylor Dancer on The Jackie Gleason Show. Moving on to Broadway, she appeared in No, No . . . Read More!

Jane Owens

When you think about America's entertainment capitals, New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas immediately come to mind. But there is actually a fourth and that is where Jane Owens, now making her Follies' debut, built her career.

Florida's Gold Coast has long been a winter destination for the world's . . . Read More!