Kellow to Celebrate New Merman Tome with Blackhurst, McKechnie and More | Playbill

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News Kellow to Celebrate New Merman Tome with Blackhurst, McKechnie and More Brian Kellow will celebrate his forthcoming book about the life of the late Ethel Merman with a series of events in November and December.

As previously announced, "Ethel Merman: A Life" is scheduled to hit bookstores around the country Nov. 5. The 336-page hardback will be published by Viking.

Kellow interviewed more than 125 of Merman's friends and former colleagues for the biography, which also features never-before-published photos. The book, according to a press release, "reveals in great detail a side of Merman many are not familiar with. Merman was a tough-talking, hard-drinking woman of theatrical legend and a woman of enormous vulnerability, particularly where men were concerned, and she was in many ways lonely and deeply disappointed by the way her life had turned out."

The various events celebrating the book's release follow.

Nov. 5 at 6 PM at the Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd Street
"A Tribute to Ethel Merman on Television": Hosted by Stephen Cole with special guest Kellow; book signing to follow.

Nov. 7 at 6:30 PM at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, 208 West 13th Street
Kellow will read from "Ethel Merman: A Life"; Klea Blackhurst will also perform; book signing to follow. Nov. 13 at the Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Avenue
A discussion of Merman's career moderated by Kellow; the panel will include Don Liberto, Virginia Gibson, Donna McKechnie and Tony Cointreau; book signing to follow.

Nov. 28 at 7:30 PM at the Barnes & Noble Lincoln Square.
Kellow will read from "Ethel Merman: A Life"; special guest singer to be announced; book signing to follow.

Dec. 5 at 6 PM at Boston University's Howard Gotlieb Archive in Boston, MA
An exhibit of Kellow's work.

Ethel Merman made her Broadway debut in 1930 in Girl Crazy. She became one of the biggest Broadway stars of her era, a woman whose name became synonymous with the musical theatre. Her many other theatrical credits include George White's Scandals; Take a Chance; Anything Goes; Red, Hot and Blue; Stars in Your Eyes; DuBarry Was a Lady; Panama Hattie; Something for the Boys; Annie Get Your Gun; Call Me Madam; Happy Hunting; Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! Merman was nominated for Tony Awards for her performances in Gypsy and Happy Hunting and won the Tony for her work in Call Me Madam. She also received a Special Tony Award in 1972. Merman died Feb. 15, 1984.

"Ethel Merman: A Life" will have a retail price of $25.95. For more information visit www.briankellowwriter.com.

 
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