Dusk for Dawn
The cover story of last Friday’s Hollywood Reporter asked a seemingly simple question: “Would You Wait Six Hours for Priscilla Presley’s Autograph?” I can give a seemingly simple response: “No!” The article is about The Hollywood Show – a place where fans get to meet their favorite stars. It used to take place at the Beverly Garland Hotel – back when Beverly Garland was relevant…and alive! Now it’s at the Burbank Marriott. The lineup of celebrities this year included several notables from Dallas (both incarnations). Before you ask, nary a Principal in sight. Why isn’t anyone worried about where she is? She either looks really bad, or is in the Witness Protection Program. Someone who did show up was Miss Presley (née Beaulieu), who had a long and winding line of fans that was compared to one of the more popular rides at Disney. One of her assistants said, “She will stay until the very last person leaves. She’s like that. She won’t disappoint.” Unless you’re a relative who comes between her and an inheritance, in which case I would advise you to sleep with one eye open.
A week earlier, Priscilla showed up at the very last public performance by Tony Orlando. This took place at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. Priscilla wasn’t there out of love for Tony; she just happened to be doing her one-woman show in the same theatre the next night. Tony was joined for part of the concert by his old singing partners, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent, otherwise known as Dawn. Fun fact – Telma and Joyce were not on the first recordings of the group. Back then, anonymous studio singers were used. Eventually, the ladies were cast as Dawn and stayed with Tony until 1977. They’ve reunited occasionally over the years and Tony couldn’t say farewell to live performing without them. I watched most of the video from this concert and realized the only songs of his I knew were the ones with Dawn – whoever they were at the time.
One of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s hits was “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose”, a poignant song about a suburban mom who runs off to become a stripper, or a hooker, or a porn star – I was never quite sure. But I thought of the song when I read that convicted murderer Gypsy Rose Blanchard has broken up with her post-prison hubby after three months of wedded bliss. After a while, you can’t sleep with one eye open. Ask Lisa Marie!
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